Winterlude

Winterlude, Winterlude, my little daisy
Winterlude by the telephone wire
Winterlude, it's makin' me lazy
Come on, sit by the logs in the fire
The moonlight reflects from the window
Where the snowflakes, they cover the sand
Come out tonight, ev'rything with will be tight
Winterlude, this dude thinks you're grand

"Winterlude" -Bob Dylan

Winter spinning. Winter knitting. Nothing quite like working with our favorite fibers when the bitter winds blow. Nothing quite like wearing cozy hats, mitts, scarves, etc. to keep us from being chilled to the bone.

The top photo is my fiberish interpretation of a waxing moon. The bright, white moon is represented by my Grandma Mayer's (Ma's Ma) crocheted doily. Ma once told me that she vividly remembered Grandma Mayer sitting in her chair, crocheting up a blizzard, sans any pattern. The crocheting must have been a welcome respite from the drudgery of cleaning and doing laundry for her family and for other folks...not to mention raising 8 children (a 9th died in infancy.) Looking in my Ma's old birthday recording book, Grandma signed her name and gave her date of birth as 1879. Mary Brandl Mayer was born 128 years ago. No doubt her beautifully executed doily is not that much younger.

The dark side of the moon, is portrayed by my own handspun, 85% cashmere and 15% merino wool yarn. The yarn itself has aged awhile...not as old as the doily, of course, but in my notes the date spun was listed as March 1996. We were living in Toronto at the time. I remember beginning to make something out of it once, but ripped it as it just wasn't right, re-skeined, washed the skein and only brought it out over the years for the "show" table when I taught a class.

The yarn is a three-ply, spun on my Schacht wheel, 11:1 ratio, probably set on double-drive (though I failed to note this), using a light, short forward draw. I regret to say that I failed to keep any of the unspun fiber in my baggie (something I don't generally forget now!), thankfully holding the index card with the yarn's spinning notes, wound-on singles and ply-back. From the notes I know that the fiber was in the form of commercial top. It was given to me as a gift by Karen, a spinning friend then living in Connecticut who presented it to me prior to my family leaving for life in Canada. She purchased the fiber on a vacation, 100 grams in total, from Fibrecrafts at Barnhowe, Elterwater, Ambleside, Cumbria, UK. Now can you imagine me trying to remember all of that info all these years later?! PLEASE document, document, document....you'll never regret it!!

Have started to knit a shawl or shawlette or neckscarf with the cashmere/merino yarn. What the piece finally becomes in the end all depends on how far the yarn takes me. No matter, I think I've finally found a pattern the yarn can call home. It's a version of Elizabeth Zimmermann's "German" shawl. In my mind's eye I can picture naturally dyed trim/embellishments and beads...gotta have some tasteful bling after all!!

The bottom photo shows the spider with my little papooshka, Alexander...must have been early winter 1987. We're both wearing handknit hats. EZ enthusiasts will right away see that my hat is none other than the "watchcap" from Elizabeth's classic, "Knitting Without Tears," Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1971. The watchcap is made from my first, useable handspun. My early-years spinning teacher, Rae, suggested that I make something...anything...out of my first handspun. Good advice, indeed. I listened to her and wore the hat alot, though the yarn in the hat keeps me more than humble. It's got problems up the yin-yang: pigtails, corkscrews, unwanted slubs, you-name-it. The wool is from Rae's then flock of Cheviots, a sheep I'm very sentimental and fond of. I love the darling faces and perky ears of Cheviot sheep - have you seen them? I remember Rae saying that Cheviots are the epitomy of the phrase, "Run Sheep Run," as they quickly dart off together if they're even slightly wary of a situation.

Just wondering... how many of you have made EZ's wonderful watchcap, too? Handspun?

Alexander's hat is from a book by Lesley Anne Price, "Kids' Knits," Ballantine Books, New York, 1984. I knit the hat from Jamieson and Smith Shetland jumper weight wool, deciding on a crocheted, crab stitch edging rather than the frilly one shown in the book. I actually remember knitting on that hat in the hospital, the evening prior to Alex's and my "C-section" date together the following morning. I even recall being irritated by the pattern having more than two colors per row now and again, not that I couldn't have changed it....Funny what you remember before you're scheduled to go under the knife.

Happy Imbolc for those celebrating. You know who you are.

Spindle Plying Using A Nostepinde & Jofran's Knitting

Jofran, featured in the past post EZ's Bog Jacket & A Chinese Worker's Cap, and I are long-time friends. There's something so special and reassuring about friends who stay in touch and remain close throughout much of their lives. We all change. It would be weird if we stayed exactly the same as we were...say, as teenagers. But it's comforting when we accept each other's changes. Rolling with the punches together. Being there for each other.

Pictured at the bottom of the slew of photos presented is Jofran holding her son, Tommy. That photo was taken two summers ago when Jofran and her wonderful husband, Bob, welcomed me to stay at their home in Michigan during the week I was to attend my 30th high school reunion. Needless to say, Tommy has grown since then!

Shown is a darling photo of a reluctantly "bunny-eared" Tommy with his doting and teasing big sisters, Frances (on the left) and Liz (on the right). Do note Tommy's handknit hat, socks and sweater on our young model...all knit by Jofran, though Frances and Liz can knit in their own right. I hear tell Frances also is becoming quite the spinner, too.

The red hat Tommy's wearing is knit from a 2-ply, heavy worsted merino yarn available from Greenfield Village at The Henry Ford Museum, in Dearborn, Michigan. The sheep who produced the wool in that yarn graze at Firestone Farm, on the museum's grounds. Jofran and her daughter, Frances, Kool-aid dyed the yarn for a semi-solid red. Her own pattern, Jofran lined the hat with doubled, DK weight alpaca. The earflaps and trim are seed stitch and there are I-cord ties. Jofran plans to put a tassel or pom-pom on top of the hat, but being a busy mom who also works as a chemical engineer, it's just not happened quite yet.

Jofran knit Tommy's sailor's rib (she mentioned she found the rib stitch in an Alice Starmore book) socks from Interlacements "Tiny Toes" fingering weight yarn, at 9 1/2 sts = 1". The socks are top down, with the usual heel flaps and kitchener stitched toes.

For a closer sweater view, check out a dashingly handsome Tommy in his yoke pullover. It's knitted using none other than Elizabeth Zimmermann's EPS system, which you can find in any of EZ or Meg Swansen's Schoolhouse Press books. The yarn itself is 2-ply "Sheepswool", also available from Schoolhouse Press; the sweater being knit with both a natural white and a natural brown/grey. The semi-solid, orange yarn began it's life as natural white and was accomplished with a Kool-aid dyeing session. Do note the good-looking, corrugated ribbing at lower border, cuffs and neckline. The back-of-neck was raised 3/4" by knitting 6 short rows, creating a neckline that'll surely keep out chill winds and make a little boy very happy.

Jofran received a Schacht Matchless spinning wheel for Christmas from her Bob...a keeper if there ever was one (that goes for Bob AND the wheel!) This wonderful wheel will join her ancient, trusty, Ashford Traditional that she received as a teenager from her parents. I can't wait to see the gorgeous yarns that'll be dripping off her wheels this year.

I mentioned on last week's post that I'd chat a bit about plying onto a spindle using a nostepinde to wind and hold a center-pull ball. Aiming to be a woman of my word, here goes: The tools involved include a plain, plying nostepinde; free of any fancy wood turnings that would inhibit the singles (coming from both the inside and the outside of the ball) from being able to be drawn out to accept the plying twist. The spindle I used for plying is a top-whorl from Adam Mielke, in bird's eye maple no less. The singles yarn? It's spun from my white, personally handcombed, Polwarth wool top, from a fleece I purchased from Rovings in Canada.

Let's start with the top photos. The top picture on the left shows the yarn wound around and caught at the top knob of the nostepinde (the yarn end that will be beginning of the inside of the ball) and brought down to be wound horizontally (with the end that'll be on the outside of the ball) a few times around the nostepinde, a bit below the mid-section of the tool where the wood gets fatter. The winding onto the nostepinde continues in the top photo on the right. To quote Priscilla Gibson-Roberts in her book, "High Whorling," Nomad Press, Colorado, 1998: "...begin to wrap at about a 45 degree angle over this core (the horizontal core just made, says spider). After several wraps, turn the nostepinne (spider learned, another spelling...depends on dialect used in Scandinavia I'm told) slightly to advance the wrapping to a new section. Continue in this manner until all the yarn has been transferred to the nostepinne." Directly below the top photos, in the second row, you'll see how I unwound the yarn end from the knob, tied it together with the outside end of the singles, and attached it by virtue of a half-hitch to the shaft of the spindle, under the whorl if using a top-whorl as I did.

In the third row of photos from the top, a pic with the green background, you'll see how I brought the two-ended ball down to the thinner portion of the shaft. I did this because the inside end pulls out nicely if it's not held fast and tight between the inside of the ball and the thick end of the nostepinde. When releasing both the inside and outside ends to get ready for plying, I'll continue to hold the ball on the nostepinde, but will allow the two ends of the ball to flow out together, keeping equal tension on each end, until I've a length that I want to ply.

In the fourth row of photos from the top, in the shot on the right, you'll see a length of the two singles getting ready to accept plying twist. Below it, in the 5th photo row, there's a photo showing how I am rolling the shaft of the spindle down my right thigh, to insert S, counter-clockwise, plying twist. Also in the 4th row of pics, in the photo on the left,, (Did ya spy Al the black cat ready to scurry up the stairs?), you'll see how I'm using my right hand to guide the plying twist into the yarn, as the spindle spins.

Finally, in a photo directly above a beautiful brown-eyed Tommy carrying a BIG spoon, you'll see how I've wound the just-made plied yarn onto the shaft of the spindle, and am getting ready to release more singles for continued plying.

So what's the purpose of using a nostepinde for plying? Well, it keeps the center-pulled ball from collapsing whilst plying from it, reducing annoying tangles. And one can't argue that you get to hold onto a pretty tool as you ply, instead of being attached to the bracelet of singles one wears when you Andean ply. You get the benefit of having no yarn left over from the ball, since you're plying the beginning of the ball to the end of the same ball.

Is plying from a nostepinde for you? Only you can decide that!!

Wrist Distaffs For Spindle Spinning & Unusual Knitting Needles

For the last few days a crazy, rather freakish, ice storm here in Southern Vermont resulted in the power being out for most of a 48 hour period in my home. I know lots of folks have experienced such a dilemma before, but I admit I can't remember ever spending two nights in a row without electricity and all that it runs in my entire life. Considering how minor this situation is in comparison to folks coping with floods, fires, homelessness and the like, I'd say I've been pretty damn fortunate. The early morning, winterish photo shows where my potatoes (in the black, raised beds) and sunflowers thrive in friendlier weather. The leafless trees in my yard allow the mountains in the distance to show their face in the background...something that's hidden during the lush green months.

Chris, musician husband, is away on tour in Dallas and that left my son, Alexander, and I to make the best of things together. We did well. When the smoke detector alarms began wailing, we calmly checked that nothing indeed was ablaze and set the detectors right. We cringed as ice-laden trees and branches fell LOUDLY in the forest behind our home and huge icicles plopped like falling stars from our roof edge onto our deck. By candlelight we skooted our miniature, metal playing pieces along the Monopoly board until Alexander's fake cash was depleted to zero by landing on my house-rich Boardwalk a few too many times. One earbud went into an ear of each of us as we listened to the Dooby Brothers, Marvin Gaye, Sting and lots of rap artists on Alex's Ipod, as we simultaneously played Advance Wars 2 on his Gameboy. Never mind that I had never played on a Gameboy before this (let alone any video game developed after Pacman)....I held my own and listened carefully to Alex's patient, repeated explanations of what the little doo-dad icons did. The bottom line: My 19 year old son and I enjoyed our many hours together - laughing, teasing, singing and jiving. I wouldn't have traded the experience for the world.

However, no electricity = no blog post. No electricity also = no evening fiber work...at least for me. I did try to spin, but the candlelight coupled with my rather poor night vision did not allow for the quality control I required. Made me think of how spoiled I am in comparison to spinners of days long past, working into the night, prior to the invention of electricity. Also made me think of how I'm not one to knit in the dark, such as in movie theaters. How about you? Do you mind knitting/spinning in less than perfect light?

A delightful gift was mailed to me this past holiday season. Ted, of Knitterguy, sent me a beautiful, handspun cotton, wrist distaff to be used when I spindle spin. Here's what Ted wrote about the tool:

The distaff is spun from, "...Sea Island Cotton, dyed for me by Danuta Kamocki at Alchemy Fibre Designs." "I wrote about spinning them (he made a few distaffs) in a couple of blog posts. Mostly I decided I wanted to spin a bit in the morning, rather than laying in bed listening to the news and hearing how the world was going to hell in a handcart." You can see Ted's blog post write-ups here:

http://knitterguy.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/06/cone_question.html

http://knitterguy.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/05/spinning_around.html

Ted continues: "When I get the fibre, it's fairly compacted, so I have to predraft to open it up; it can be pretty clumpy. I spin it on a 12 gram, high whorl spindle made by Adam Mielke, of Mielke's Fiber Arts. I think it's a Lizzie." (Ted also likes spindles made by Tracy Eichheim of Woolly Designs.) "Singles are wound onto a nostepinde 'til I have enough to ply. Plying is done on my Lendrum. I don't put a whole lot of twist into the singles; just enough that it holds together. There's alot of ply twist, though, because (for the wrist distaff) you want the skein twisting back on itself. The design for the distaff is by Rita Buchanan, and comes from Spin Off, Winter 1999."

Ted says, "People don't have a clue what they (the distaffs) are or how to use them. Any spindle spinner who's had their spindle wrap around a length of fibre figures it out pretty quickly though. I've often wished I could get a picture of me using mine."

Well Ted, if we lived near to each other, I would definitely have asked to take a photo of you spindle spinning using your wrist distaff. Alas, we're in two, different countries (Canada and the U.S.)....so here's a few photos of me using not only your wonderful, handspun distaff, but also two other wrist distaffs. Note that there is a photo of Ted's distaff by itself and also in use as I spin. Spinners-in-the-know will notice that I'm spinning with a Mongold spindle. You might even spy that I'm spinning Tussah silk top; in this case naturally dyed by me.

If we agree that a distaff is a tool that holds fiber (like having a third hand) in order for the spinner to use his/her own two hands to operate the spinning tool (in this case, a spindle) and draft the fibre, etc.....then my green watch, pictured on my left hand in one of the photos, is a distaff as it's temporarily securing the fibre at my wrist and safely out of the way of getting caught in the spinning spindle. This works well if there's only a small amount of fibre to hold at a time. Too much fibre hanging will still create the problem of the spinning spindle snatching fibre into it's whirling lair.

'course, I could have used my wrist itself as a distaff, if I had wound the fibre around it (no photo of this shown.) The only problem with winding the fibre on the wrist itself is that when you need to stop spinning for whatever reason, you have to either detach the unspun fibre from the spindle OR unwind the fibre from your wrist altogether.

Another neat wrist distaff is made out of metal. Knitters will recognize this tool as one where a ball of yarn can be placed on the upside-down V portion, with the yarn held on by virtue of the wooden beads on the ends. Because a swivel hook is attached to the metal bracelet, the yarn then turns freely when knitting. Same can be said when a spinner uses this device as a wrist distaff. I've used this particular distaff for many years.

One of the top photos shows my "plying" nostepinde, made from a pretty bird's eye maple...my all-time fave wood. I show this because Ted mentioned he wound his cotton/silk, handspun singles onto a nostepinde prior to plying on his Lendrum wheel. We'll have to ask him just how he went about doing this! Ted? In any case, do please note that my nostepinde is very smooth and unadorned, with only a groove and a small, smooth, round ball-topper. The reason for the lack of fancy turnings is because if you wind singles onto the "plying" nostepinde and actually keep the resulting ball on the tool, you can two-ply using the inside-beginning-of-ball-singles and the outside-end-of-ball-singles, without getting the singles hung up on fancy, wood turnings. Plus, with the plain nostepinde still holding the ball of singles, it defies the ball to "collapse" and tangle when in the act of plying. How 'bout I show this technique on next week's post?

In an e-mail from one of the spider's readers, Beverly said/asked:

"I ply onto the same spindle that I spun it (the singles) on. This spindle is not very large so my skeins of yarn only end up with about fifty yards of yarn. How do you make a skein that is 200 yards, like the ones you buy?"

I'll first answer by referring Beverly and others with this question to the past post, Storing Takli-Spun Singles For Plying. Though the post deals with taklis, one could use the info with singles spun on any spindle. That said, if your spindle doesn't hold much and that's the only one you have to ply with...and let's say you've no spinning wheel either....then please do remember that your spindle can only hold so much and that's it. Therefore, without a spindle that can hold more plied yarn AND without a wheel, you can only ply as much yarn, without knots, as that spindle can hold. But, if you have a yarn winder or even a niddy noddy, you can continue as follows: Ply as much as you can comfortably on your spindle. Wind the plied yarn on to a swift or niddy noddy. Ply some more on your now empty spindle. Knot the end of what's already on the swift/niddy noddy with what you plied the second time 'round on the spindle. Etc. etc. etc. Please remember, when yarn mills ply singles from their bobbins, even their bobbins can only hold so much. If someone wants an order requiring HUGE, plied skeins...even mills must knot the ends together. Any other ideas readers? Thanks, Beverly. Your comments and questions are most appreciated!

Lastly, you'll find a photo of some very interesting knitting needles, resting on a green background. When I lived in Bennington, VT back in the 80's, I was given these needles from a knitter named, Isabel. Our Green Mountain Knitting Guild was holding a holiday Yankee Swap. When it came for my turn to choose a gift, Isabel said something like, "You must pick this package." I wasn't disappointed, that's for sure!!! I don't know where the needles originated from or what they're made of (ivory? bone?). Isabel knew nothing about them either. They're cool though, eh? Readers, can you help with info/ideas? Has anyone ever seen anything remotely like them?

Noshing In New York & Darning Yarn Ends

Last Thursday, three of the family Bakriges' headed to New York City to spend time with the fourth member who happens to reside in Brooklyn. I've been asked when I was going to post recent photos of my whole family? Here they are: Jenny age 49, Chris age 48, David age 26 and Alexander age 19...pictured with a ghoul or two for good measure.

The bottom photo was taken on the Q train, headed from Brooklyn to Manhattan. That's Alex in the foreground, with big brother, David behind him.

The second from bottom photo shows the men in the family in front of Strand bookstore, one of our planned destinations. Knowing that browsing bookstores, especially ones with used books, are one of our family's favorite pastimes, David had been singing the praises of this particular store. He was right! They claim to have 18 miles worth of books...new, used, rare, you-name-it. We checked our watches and gave each other some needed time for personal book hunting before we were to meet up again. In the third photo from the bottom you'll see the treasure that I found, photographed with a few of the spider's miniature, spinning wheels. And what an excellent find it is..."Spiders and Spinsters - Women and Mythology," by Marta Weigle, University of New Mexico Press, 1982. There's lots of fascinating, sometimes quirky, info throughout the book. Here's an excerpt of one of the poems printed:

But swinging in the snares she spun.
She sways to every wintry wind:
Her joy, her toil, her errand done,
Her corse the sport of storms unkind.

Poor sister of the spinster clan!
I too from out my store within
My daily life and living plan,
My home, my rest, my pleasure spin.

I know thy heart when heartless hands
Sweep all that hard-earned web away:
Destroy its pearled and glittering bands,
And leave thee homeless by the way.

-Rose Terry Cooke, "Arachne"
1860

It's enough to make a spinning spider's heart go a'flutter....

Another of our planned stops was Pearl River Mart in Soho. No photos from there but we had a blast perusing all things Asian on two, jam-packed floors. Alexander loaded up on incense and found a hot, little dragon figure. Check out their excellent online catalog if you can't swing visiting in person any time soon.

We stumbled upon a Halloween and costume lover's paradise at New York Costumes. Halloween is my fave of all holidays, as mentioned in the past post, I Love Halloween. That's our David posing with Superman, Alex dancing with a lady we'd prefer he'd not bring home, Jenny ready to smooch a vampire and Chris peeking out from behind a pumpkin guy with an attitude. Next time we're in the city, we definitely want to hit that joint again.

At the top of the photos that's Chris and Alexander walking the streets as it heads towards nightfall. Below you'll find Chris resting in David's Brooklyn apartment, soon to be ready for the trek back to Vermont.

But wait....I have to tell you that I ate four different potato meals during the day. The morning began with a bag of vinegar and salt chips. Lunch was in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, complete with potato knishes, potato salad and sauerkraut. Noshing, indeed. Dinner was back in Brooklyn at a deli. The rest of the family ate sensible things like wraps and sandwiches. When it came my turn to order I asked for a large order of fries (they were incredible) a Coke (which Alex said will take the rust off of anything I choose) and that's it. I make no excuses at this time in my life. If my two, more-or-less grown sons don't eat properly by now, well so be it. I did my best all those early years of their lives to portray balance, at least when it came to food. Now? The hell with it. To see more of my true, potato-loving self, check out the past post,You Say Potato -- I Say Potaaaahto.

OK, on to the fiberish portion of the post. This time, a question appeared in my e-mail on whether or not I split plies prior to darning in loose ends on my knitting projects? Who asked? Why Leslie of course, supreme commenter and question asker, for whom I'm most grateful. Note that any of you out there can have the title of supreme commenter, too - but you need to comment. Okee-doekee?

My answer to the question was that generally I don't split plies of the yarn ends I wish to hide. In fact, I think the only time I've ever split plies was when the darning was going to look too wadgey (ie. spider's word for thick) on the knitted fabric...such as in a very fine, lace piece. How 'bout you folks? If you're a ply splitter, when and why do you do so?

When I'm ready to darn in ends, my usual practice is to get out the appropriate size darning needle and head diagonally, catching a bit of the fibers in the stitches on the backside of the knitted fabric as I make my journey. I also tend to skim in one direction for awhile and then head in another, aiming to confound the yarn end from even thinking of escaping or popping out. If I'm faced with hiding alot of ends in a stranded, color patterned, knitted piece, I often just darn in horizontally. If I want to darn in ends on a reversible piece, I thank the stars if I can do so on an edge where they're hidden completely.

'course there's always splicing the yarn during knitting to avoid ends altogether.

Do tell us about your adventures in dealing with yarn ends, please. I rather like the task. Do you?

Fiber Of Gold & Leslie's Sock Solution

Wishing all the spider's readers a magnificent 2007, filled full of phenomenal fibers, better-than-commercial handspun yarn and great, adventurous projects. I, myself, was planning to spin away the hours heading towards 12:00 am on New Year's Eve, working on my Bamboo spinning for "The Book." See just what "The Book" is in the past post, Silk, Silk Blends & THE BOOK . Being the wife of a musician who is busy entertaining others as the New Year rings in, I'm used to entertaining myself on the Eve. My friends had other ideas for me, however...in the form of attending a house party (something I haven't done in years), complete with crazy (a tad risque, but fun!) games and a table laden with scrumptious foodstuffs. But now that my feet are firmly planted in the New Year, it's back to the business of spinning and knitting...

Pictured in the bottom photo is unspun Bamboo fiber that was solar and naturally dyed by me. For more on solar dyeing see the past posts, Solar Mordanting and Solar Dyed Silk. The dye, in this case, was produced from a combination of Goldenrod, Jewelweed and Quebracho Red extract.

Ted queried in his recent, "New Year 2007" post on his own blog whether other dyers find their unspun fibers get compacted by the dyeing process? As a natural dyer who has professionally production dyed in the past and who often subjects unspun fibers to more than one step in the dyeing process (ie. pre-mordanting, dyeing and possibly post-mordanting color changing) I can wholeheartedly say, "Yes, my dyed, unspun fibers look like something the cat has dragged in.....until I pre-draft them." Whilst pre-drafting, it's as if the fibers wake up and come alive again. Thus, what you are viewing in the bottom photo has all be pre-drafted.

The middle photo shows two bobbins of the Bamboo spun up as singles. You eagle-eyed spinners out there are saying to yourselves, "She's spun the yarn on a Louet." No, in this case I have not. I've spun it on my Lendrum. "But the yarn's on Louet bobbins," you say. Well, yes. But I'm usually in the repackage-the-singles-prior-to-plying camp. What this means is that I've rewound the singles, by hand, onto a new bobbin. I began this practice years ago when I read about it in an Alden Amos article in Spin-Off magazine. Why do I do this? *I like the end results* is the most honest answer I can give you. Whether or not repackaging actually makes for a smoother yarn or one where the singles' twist evens out obediently is not something I can prove per se. I can say simply, however, that repackaging contributes to me liking my final yarn and that's the bottom line as far as I'm concerned. The practice of repackaging has served me well!

By the way, the final yarn I'm spinning in Bamboo is to be a three-ply, and I'm working on that third bobbin presently. The project this yarn will find its home in will be a knitted blouse. There'll be more spinning to do for the blouse, as Tencel is going to find it's way into the piece, too. Dost the spun Bamboo look not unlike spun gold? To a fiber fanatic, perhaps better than gold....

The top photo displays wonderfully the beautiful, handknit and naturally dyed, sock-adorned feet of Leslie. This is none other than Leslie of the past post, Leslie - Knitter, Spinner, Solar Dyer & Friend. In that post, a photo of these socks were shown "on the needles." I had mentioned in the post that I thought Leslie had dyed the yarn with acorns. She commented and corrected this error:

The socks on the needles are a 5-ply guernsey yarn bought from Schoolhouse Press. I dyed the yarn with barberry root that John and I carried home with us from Monhegan Island, Maine last September. I am still working on them, so, more later on the solution to not enough yarn!

Yes, alas and alack, Leslie ran out of yarn before the socks were finished, a dilemma more than one of us have found ourselves in, is it not? What to do? Well, since barberry root dyed yarn can't be bought off the shelf of a yarn store and the chances of matching Leslie's original dyejob would be pretty iffy, she ripped back, made the leg shorter and had enough yarn to bring the socks to completion. Now here's a question to ponder..who can come up with alternate solutions to Leslie's problem? How have you saved the day (and your project) when you've run short of yarn?