musindigo

This past Monday I had a biopsy performed on the back of my left hand, between the first and second knuckle.  I’ve developed what I’m told is a painful type of eczema on nearly every finger as well as the palms and over the knuckles on both hands.  Given the stress-level recently, I’m not really surprised.  But, just to be sure, a biopsy was called for.

I cried when they put the freezing in.  Not because of the presented pain but because of what had lead up to it.  The last six weeks have been rather painfully challenging on many different levels.  And all I could think was, while the freezing was being injected, now I won’t even be able to KNIT.  It was sort of a final blow.  The poor women performing the biopsy didn’t quite know what to think watching this over-40 woman fall to pieces over a small little procedure.

I am back to knitting, even though it is painful.  I just cannot imagine getting through a day without it.  So, I guess I am hardcore.  What can I say.  The location of the biopsy means I have pain shooting down the fingers and up across the back of the hand, and sometimes up toward the elbow.  But, it’s lessening on a daily basis and the hope is once the stitches are removed, it will be more comfortable.

The good thing is, I made it into the dyeroom for the first time in a long time before this past Monday.  So there are a few new goodies in the shop.

And before that, I’d spent a good chunk of the last month or so petting some new fleece wool I’d ordered from a wonderful little farm in MA, Cranberry Moon.  Lisa’s farm is also a member of Local Harvest where you can oogle all sorts of goodies, from produce to hand-made items to wooly goodness, from various farms around North America.

Before my hands got really sore, I’d developed a new affinity for hand-carding.  Previously, before I’d started having mobility issues forcing me to slow down and smell roses a little more than I’d been known to do, I’d not had much patience for hand-carding and combing.  Everything flew through the drum-carder.  But I ordered this fibre with hand-combing in mind.

Gray Romney, Black Cotswold and some White Leicester Longwool, gently washed but still in their glorious locks.  Yummy.  I have ideas to use it all in combination with other fibres here to make several sweaters.  I will likely dye the Longwool before combing.  I know it’s going to be a long-term project (or should I say ’several’ long-term projects), especially now that I’ve been slowed down somewhat by this issue with my hands.  But I’m healing so hopefully it won’t be too long before I can start playing around with the combs and carders once again.

I also fell in love with some cheerfully dyed BFL locks from Tumble Creek farm, discovered through the Oregon Wool site.

I did get a portion of these carded and spun - single-spun in a sort of gradating sequence, in February.  The rest will be carded in with something at some point, to make a sort of multi-coloured flecky (for lack of a better word) sweater yarn I have designed in my head.

I haven’t decided just yet if I’m going to use it just on its own - the locks were incredibly crimpy and springy.  I have ideas to possibly ply it with something earthy like a gray merino.  I’m betting it would knit wonderful socks or maybe a nifty cowl.  Or mitts or maybe a beret.

Anyways, always good to have a little wool insurance for the future.  :)

As well, I managed to finish up half a pair of socks:

One Rattlesnake Creek Sock knitted in Wooly Wonka Fiber’s yummy Aerten Yarn.  I cast it on a few hours after hearing of my father’s death.  Amazing what such a small project can do to help you make it through.

And this is not all of it, the therapy.   I am still working on the hand-spun Kelmscott as well as spinning up batts for a Fylingdales cardigan.  But I will save some things to show you in another post.

ETA:  I nearly forgot this - Cleopatra.  For Anne’s Shakespeare in Lace 2010 Club.  All finished up, too, as of last week.

There is one line in particular running through my head from the hymns sung at Dad’s funeral.  This is not surprising, given I am sort of a hymn junkie.  I often have hymns running through my head.  But this one sums it all up quite tidily:

strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

Wool therapy, doing its job.

Tags: knitting, life, oceanwind knits, ravelry, socks, spinning, wip, wool, work in progress, yarn

I know.  That’s what I thought, too, when I first started making these little nests for carding.

It’s really a nice soft yummy rich brown alpaca.

It’s part of my latest spinning project, which is, again, to spin enough for a sweater.  The red mix from the last posting is working out very well -

(That’s a shot of the unblocked right front of Kelmscott).  I’ve knitted both fronts, actually.  Back next, then sleeves.

Anyways, digressing.

The alpaca above, plus this -

-DT Crafts kid mohair locks, which I’m hand-carding in the evenings (quite therapeutic, actually), and

from left to right around the clock:  green cotswold, light gray shetland (I find it’s just dandy with just about anything to add a little earthiness to a yarn), the brown alpaca and blue corriedale.  I’ve divided up all the fibre into its requesite amounts, into twelve sections, to make 24 batts.

So far, it looks like this (the mohair hasn’t been added, yet) -

All told, it should work out to about 24 oz.  Which should be more than enough for a sweater in worsted in my size.  I’m aiming to spin a 3ply worsted weight-this time.

It’s good timing, too.  I need a distraction.  My dad is lined up for open-heart surgery later this week or early next.

And, I’ve got about 6 weeks to kill before a CNS appointment at a neuromuscular clinic (but I’m thrilled to have that appointment booked).

In other news (good news) - Oceanwind Knits is finally on Facebook.  I feel like I’m a little late to the party.  But, I’m happy to finally have time to enjoy the fun interactions on Facebook.  I’ve really not taken time to participate in before now.  I’ll be posting updates as new things are added to the shop (a few new yarns went up the other day, by the way).

So, pop by, if you’re on Facebook, and say hello.  :)

Tags: life, oceanwind knits, projects, spinning, sweater, wip, wool, yarn

Why, quite a bit, actually.  Spinning has gone very well lately; quite a few FOs coming off the bobbins.

Like this - Freckleface ‘Gypsy’, 80/20 merino/silk roving

spun into

this 3-ply light fingering weight, 104g / 415 yards (I also wound up with 69 yds of 2-ply laceweight).  Isn’t it interesting sometimes how the yarn really isn’t at all like the original roving?  I did deliberately attempt to break up the colour runs in this, however, splitting each third of roving into quarters before spinning.  I am quite tickled with it, actually.  The plan is to knit a simple lace scarf (like the Raha Scarf by Nancy Bush) which would leave me enough left for a cowl or some fingerless mittens.

And then, I decided to spin up a little batt leftover from a show in the fall.  It had a mixture of fibres, alpaca, merino and silk.  I typically forgot to take a photo pre-spinning since it was one of those sort of impulsive projects started on a whim one evening.  I plied it with a single of gorgeous Wooly Wonka  Silverback Roving - alpaca, bamboo + angelina (just absolutely divine stuff - too nice to spin, almost).

It turned out quite sweet, if I say so myself:

I spun it so it would transition from a rich seaglass blue to a gray blue to golden (72g / 283 yds), light fingering laceweight, plied looser than normal for lots of drape.  Currently it’s being knit into a lacey cowl.  I had the project in mind while spinning and it’s proving to be a perfect match.

And, most recently,   this -

-showing 3 of 8 skeins spun over the holidays (finished on Jan.3rd).  This is an ultimate achievement for me.  I’ve always wanted to spin enough yarn for a sweater.  This is the first time I’ve managed to do so.  It’s quite a mix:  about 50% red fibre (alpaca, border leicester and tunis) + 40% shetland + 10% green, blue, rust and black corridale which I carded together.  I spun it sportweight, softly with a deliberately drapey yet stretchy hand.  I’ve got about 520gs and close to 1400 yds.

Because I want to knit

Kelmscott, which I’ve been totally enamoured by since it first showed up on my screen in the Winter’09 Twist Collective.  I’m not sure I will knit the collar since it’s quite formal that way.  But, we’ll see.  Currently, what you see above is total progress on the sweater (2″ of one front).

The red roving project, as it came to be known, was quite an undertaking but a nice quiet focus amidst the crazy holiday activity, which was a good thing, given the need for deliberate focus has become imperative as of late.  It is nice to be able to find the time to focus on such large-scale projects  because in recent years I’ve been far too busy to really allow for such things.  (And, of course, I’m a fickle knitter and spinner, prone to startitis to begin with).  But, not these days.

Late 2009 brought some changes (as every year does for most of us) which are going to carry on into 2010.  In a recent post I mentioned about seeking medical advice for some unexplainable oddities.  Hence the required focus and balance.

For a while, I thought it was related to the stress of having a busy schedule and not quite enough downtime.  I expected, given some time, things would just sort of clear up and I would wake up one morning feeling just fine (has not yet happened).  I thought a weekend away would work wonders (it didn’t).  It became loud and clear over a period of short months I would need to change my expectations of what I generally was used to business-wise and how I conducted daily activities.  Time to face facts.  I’m told it’s likely fibromyalgia + something.  Or it could just be something. The ’something’ is proving to be difficult to nail down and receiving specialist treatment is proving to be a time-consuming process (that is, getting to see a specialist is taking long).

Because all of this is happening behind the scenes, so to speak, and because I’ve received requests, I just wanted to let folks know I will not be offering clubs this year (as far as I know); I have also elected to not reserve booth space at any shows.  This is quite disappointing since I very much enjoy meeting folks, never mind it’s fun seeing other vendors who I’ve become friendly with (and never mind the enjoyment of adding goodies to my stash - but perhaps I will be able attend some shows and just enjoy the shopping side for once).

I will, however, be continuing to dye in small batches, fill small wholesale orders and I will also continue to publish designs.  Although some things will take longer to put together than they have in the past, other things may come together more quickly with the schedule being less jam-packed.

It has all been rather eye-opening.  I am quite used to walking miles with the dog and working 10-14 hours in a day if required, filling gaps with personal activities.  This, at the moment, is a thing of the past.  A balanced schedule is a requirement.  No more willy nilly.

I am grateful to family and friends who have stepped in to help me to continue working.  I am grateful I’ve been working from home for years which has enabled me to jiggle things a bit, rather than forcing an abrupt career malfunction.

And, the major upside is more time to spin and knit since I’m being forced to slow things down (ironic, isn’t it?  getting more by slowing down?).  This is something I’ve wanted (what fibre addict wouldn’t?).  So, I’m taking it.  I’ve always believed in being opportunistic.  And, IMO, the therapeutic value is priceless.  :)

And, I am expecting with some time, some sort of treatment may become available.  All of this could, at some point, become a non-issue.

So, in a nutshell, this is how 2010 begins.  C’est la vie, as they say.  Onwards and upwards.  Knit (spin, dye) on.

Happy New Year to you and yours.  I’m looking forward to the Olympics.  Are you?

Tags: finished, knitting, life, oceanwind knits, projects, spinning, wip, work in progress

I’m sure you agree.

Too bad my youngest has some sort of aversion to them and refuses to wear them for more than a few seconds.   We’re working on him (bribing with doughnuts and other goodies).  He might come around.  Otherwise, they are cute all on their own, even if they’re not attached to a pair of five-year-old footsies.

And, I have a new hat for the holidays:

Knit in the aforementioned Kandinsky hand-spun.  It is a little wild.  But, I love it.  And the hat looks pretty good on, too (considering I’m not really a hat person, this is quite a compliment to myself ;)).

Pattern is a variation of the It All Comes Together beret.  Photos are pre-blocking.  It has smoothed out with blocking and the colours really seem to pop.

Wishing everyone a merry holiday!  Be safe and warm.

Tags: finished, knits, knitting, projects, spinning, wool, yarn

Yes.  This is how it came out:

I like it.  Nice bursts of colour.

Specs:  2-ply, spun worsted at 12.5:1; plied at 14:1; wheel:  Ladybug.  98g / 267 yds.

I’m planning to knit it up into a Woodland Trails Cowl. (It’s a little thin but if it doesn’t work for this pattern, it will work for another cowl, I’m sure).  Right after I knit up some of these.  (Go see, they are too cute for words).

By the way - new yarn available at Oceanwind Knits:  Superwash Bluefaced Leicester sockweight (among other things).  :)  It is super super soft, with a litte nylon for extra durability.

If you’re like me, you’re stuck in the middle of endless snow squalls.  Great knitting/spinning weather.  (It has to be good for something).  Drive safely!

Tags: finished, oceanwind knits, spinning, wool, yarn

… things happen.

Such was the case last evening when I found myself in a position to do ‘whatever’, with the youngest more or less asleep, and hubby & eldest out.  It was a stormy evening, with localized squalls (the first major snow of the season around here) and the 100th Anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens was on CBC.

This all combined well with a quiet evening of spinning.  And, so, this is what happened.

The last Oceanwind Fibre Club offering was a batt based on Kandinsky.  As mentioned previously, I’ve decided to become a member of the club myself, this time around, to push my personal spinning boundaries a little.

My apologies.  I realized partway into the first batt I’d (typcially) forgotten to take a photo during daylight so it could be a little better.

The batts are based on this piece (but also on Kandinsky’s work, in general), entitled Farbstudie Quadrate, 1913:

There are 12 colours in the batt, blended in such a way to emphasize gradations but also hiding little surprise ‘bursts’ throughout.  Fibres include corriedale, alpaca, silk and merino.

I have to admit, although I love making batts, I am still quite a novice when it comes to spinning them.

With this batt in particular, Anne has gone before me which boosted my confidence.  So part of my determination and approach was based on her beautifully spun example.  However, being a little bit of a chicken, I wasn’t sure I was quite ready to go the whole hog and spin a completely transitional yarn.  I debated about doing singles for a transitional shawl or something along those lines, but, in the end, I decided to leave that idea for another time.  So I modified her approach somewhat.

I split each batt into quarters (widthwise, across the grain).  Each quarter is then split into thirds lengthwise (with the grain).  I am spinning each quarter in particular order so I have two gradations from ‘reds to yellows’ and two from ‘yellows to reds’ (each repeated) in each batt, reversing the order for the second batt, planning a 2-ply light fingering yarn.

Here’s the first bobbin (first batt):

I’m hoping for gradual, subtle transitions throughout the yarn.  I’m hoping to spin quite a lot today - NHL hockey starts at 1:30.  ;)

We will see how it comes out, if my approach works (I hope I am not muddying up the colours too much).

One of the joys of spinning - there is usually a surprise included.  :)

Tags: Canada, hockey, roving, snow, spinning, wool, work in progress

Sometimes, as mentioned in the last post, you get what you wish for.  Sometimes, in strange ways.

One of the things I am most often lamenting about is a lack of ‘personal’ knitting time due to other obligations (like work and boys needing their mother’s support and a need for sleep).

I knew coming into this fall, things were going to be walking a fairly thin line between meeting obligations and commitments and going off the rails at breakneck speed.  I managed to experience both.  Sometimes simultaneously.  However, there was not much to be done about it other than work through it.  I really did not have much control over the timing of so many things and I really became quite disappointed as to how I was unable to keep things rolling along at a more reasonable pace.

Thankfully most folks have been understanding and I truly appreciate everyone’s consideration and patience over the last few months.

My fall came on blasting.  Aside from trying (sometimes in vain due to a majorly wet  September and October which increased drying time substantially making dyeing quite problematic) to fill orders for wholesale, clubs and retail, I was dyeing to prepare for two shows only weeks apart.  In between the shows I managed, like I do most falls, to pick up a flu bug which knocked me out for days on end.  Our youngest was diagnosed with asthma in late September after a scary abrupt respiratory illness, probably related to the same bug.  In mid-October, it became pretty clear to me that the ‘little things’ irking me physically were not so little anymore and I should probably take note and get checked over.   This evolved into attending multiple medical appointments and tests, some hours away, which really take their toll on a work schedule.  I am still working through the medical system to really define what’s going on in this department.  A few weeks ago, my dad had heart surgery (he is doing excellent).

So, after feeling quite over-extended, finally things have settled down to a point where I feel I am once again in control and I’ve worked diligently to get to such a point.  This, after everything, is quite a blessing.

The other blessing (aside from my incredible family who step in when needed and the support of friends), amongst all the chaos of September and October and early November, was a sudden surge of ‘personal’ knitting time (hence, what I often wish for, I now had);  I found myself in the passenger seat on long car trips, in waiting rooms and just generally unable to work due to many factors, leaving me with time on (in?) my hands.  So, out came the spinning wheel and the needles.  An oasis which I could focus on when I wasn’t forced to be resting.  And, glee, because, not being very prolific in the FO department - I tend to be a process knitter and lose focus with other obligations - I actually had things flying off the needles.  :)  Yay!

So, this (Waterloo Wools South African Wool, purchased at the KW Knitter’s Fair) -

became this:

Which became these (Whistlpea Knits Basic Cabled Mittens) -

I also managed to churn out two of these -

in four different colourways of Noro Silk Garden Sock (two colourways each).  The pattern is Dianna.  It is a rare thing for me to knit something twice, but I loved how this pattern works up and the process was rather soothing.  (The border on the first one is the border from the Half Square Shawl, Victorian Lace Today).

This one has gone to live with Anne, who I’m sure has sore email ears (eyes?) a lot of days due to someone’s harping on a regular basis (I wonder who? ;)).  I also finished up quite a few bobbins of handspun (as of yet unphoto-ed) and managed to sort of figure out the workings of my new-to-me CSM (this one is going to require quite the learning curve but I’m starting to get it).

So, with any luck, and hopefully not at the same expense and stress level of the past several months, the FOs will continue.  We will see.

Tags: finished, knits, knitting, life, projects, roving, spinning, wool, yarn

Woolen Rabbit merino+angora.  (Roving gifted from Anne.)  It feels like velvet.  2ply fingering weight.

Spiral-dyed Austrailian Merino - 2ply worsted weight, from two different colourways.  I still have more of this to spin.  Love.

Shunklies Jacob Humbug.  I have another 3oz to spin.  3ply (not navajo) worsted.

and this:

2ply, light fingering-weight, 800+ yards of hand-dyed merino roving.  These made it into the Oceanwind Knits shop, my first hand-spun for sale.  :)

… some of the fruits of my mini-staycations over the summer.  Unfortunately, it just did not time out to actually get away at any point.  I still have hopes it might happen over the fall before the weather cools off too much.

First off, however, I am dyeing like a little mad bunny these days for the Waterloo County Knitters Fair, next Saturday, Sept.12th.

Hope to see you there!  Sure to be a wonderful time.  I always look forward to it.

Tags: finished, oceanwind knits, roving, spinning, wool, yarn

I’m not really sure how it got to be August, but it is.  It happened.

Lately the days just fill up and flow together.

This is not necessarily a bad thing (I can be heard remarking that one of my biggest fears in life is being bored;  I certainly don’t need to be concerned about it at all these days).

And, I quite like when there is concrete physical evidence of productivity.  As of late, it’s been pretty good around here on that level.

A few notables:

For the past year, we’ve been anticipating some sort of diagnosis for the youngest, given his development is not typical for his age level and hasn’t been for some time.  In July, we received a diagnosis of high level autism.  This is good.  It allows all of us to move forward with confidence we’ve been practicing activities and setting up programs which are going to be helpful for him and have been helpful.  We are on the right track.

In the knitting arena, I’ve gotten a few things off the needles in good time (I can’t show you one of them because it’s the design for the September installment of the ETL Club via Woolgirl).  I am also dyeing the yarn (still a work in progress) for the same installment.  This has been a little challenging this summer (as has been dyeing in general) with our weather patterns in southwestern Ontario leaning towards high humidity and more rain than normal.  But, we’re managing.

This, however, I can show you, now that it’s in the hands of its intended:

Earlier in the year, I was invited to participate in this year’s Handspun Scarf Exchange.  Basically, the premise is to entice spinners to knit with their handspun.  This was good incentive for me; it is the first FO knitted out of my handspun.  I have dabbled and dreamed and prospected with my handspun but have never achieved and full, in the flesh, completed knitted item.

I think it came out fairly well.

I really enjoyed the whole process, as well.  You receive fibre to spin from the intended owner, and likewise, someone else in the group receives your fibre.  You have no idea who you’re spinning/knitting for until the end of the alotted timeframe.

So, I’m not sure who dyed this fibre; I know only it is a merino silk.  Very nice to work with.  It was spun on the Ladybug at 9:1.  My intention was laceweight/light fingering, but with a little bit of bounce, not too drapey but with some ability to show lace patterning.  Larkin requested a wider scarf, and not too long and skinny.  I found Anne’s Butternut Scarf pattern and it seemed to fit the bill.  I think I was also attracted to that pattern in particular because the Anne’s sample was knitted with handspun as well.

Other yarn specs:

Plied 9:1; the roving was divided into 32 smaller ‘nests’ before spinning to spread the colouring around and shorten some of the longer colour runs.  Resulting yardage:  skein #1 - 2.8 oz/80g/405 yds; skein #2 - 1.3 oz/38g/195 yds.  I was hoping for around 600 yds and in the end, that’s exactly what I wound up with.

It really all came together perfectly.

Of course, now I would like one just like this for myself.  :)

Anyhow, finally got around to blogging!  I have more knitting/spinning to share but my hopes are I will be able to squeeze in another blog post fairly soon.

Tags: finished, knitting, lace, life, projects, spinning, yarn

Finally completed the shop update (a little later than sooner).  As usual (typically, with boys in the house) there have been a few unpredicted events around here;  the most notable being the teenager developing an inclusion cyst on the side of his face which had to be attended to.  Thankfully, he is on the mend and it probably will not require surgery at this point in time.

I’ve also been trying to pretty up the gardens outside while the weather co-operates but we are still under frost warning for tonight.  Hopefully the trend will soon give way to more springy temps which stick around.  It’s been a roller-coaster ride lately.

A few new introductions:

A fingerless glove pattern - “Whither Mitts” and its companion yarn, “BFL Sport“:

As well, a few new things in spinning:   Learn-to-spin-kits, Exotic Drop-Spindles and Fancy Batts.

Last but not least - sign ups for the Oceanwind Knits Fibre Club ‘09 are open!  See all the details here.  6 options available.  Shipments begin in July.

All of the newbies can be browsed in the ‘new’ section of the shop.

I’ve only got one skein remaining of the new ‘Seabreez‘ - the lace vultures lovers gobbled it up at the Frolic.  There will be more as soon as I can get my hands on some new base yarn stock.

I’ve also managed some non-work knitting which I am keen to share - hopefully next time around.  And, spinning, too.

Happy Spring!

Tags: boys, dyeing, finished, life, oceanwind knits, patterns, spinning, yarn