100% Mohair 2-Ply Handspun; Running Out Of Yarn; 2 Useful Quotes; Alex and Japan

Lay Down Your Weary Tune

Lay down your weary tune, lay down
Lay down the song you strum
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum

I stood unwound beneath the skies
And clouds unbound by laws
The cryin' rain like a trumpet sang
And asked for no applause

-Bob Dylan

Autumn! My fave time of year is surrounding me. Happy Rosh Hashanah to those readers who are observing. Happy fall to all!! Above you'll find my '08 Kennebec potato haul. Some taters are pretty scabby (Perhaps caused by the overly rainy August? Any thoughts on why surface fungus scabs formed and what to do to stop this from happening again?), but I was assured that if I peeled them they'd taste just fine. I've already made two pots of soup and I can attest to their truly delicious taste. Thank you Tom and Diane Golding, for your generous gift of potato seeds this year. Do note the green pumpkin above the potatoes. Even now that pumpkin simply refuses to turn orange. Maybe we'll have to carve it and call it our Watermelon-Jack-O-Lantern.

Yesterday I was having tea with Leslie, Lunar Lady Librarian. She quoted both her grandma and grandpa. The quotes were just too good not to share. From Leslie's grandmother Ethel ("Gram"): When I would say that it's "only a quarter of an inch" mostly in relation to sewing hems, etc., she would say "A quarter of an inch on the end of your nose would be a lot!" This would also apply to making sure of one's knitting gauge, don't you think? From Leslie's grandfather Irvin ("Grandad"): When pulling into a parking space one time, I said, "Grandad! You almost hit that car!" He replied "An inch is as good as a mile."

Alexander, youngest of the spider, age 21, recently went to Japan for over a month. Chris and I are ecstatic about him showing extreme passion over his experience there...so passionate that he wants to go back to live asap. 'course he's smitten with his Japanese girlfriend, and that could be one such wonderful reason for his joy. But we also know he loves all-things-Japanese and we are happy he has found the beginning of a path he has been looking for, perhaps all his life. Here's a pic of him coming off the plane from Japan...tired but full of determination to head back to Japan. Please send him good wishes and thoughts as he begins this portion of his life. Any of the spider's readers from Japan?

Above you'll find Alex, happy but not so fresh, hot off the plane from Japan.

From left to right, here's Kyle (Alex's buddy who went with him to Japan), Alex, and Chris. We're waiting for their bags to come off the plane.

Hiccup.

Am working on a handspun, naturally dyed, EZ epaulet jacket for the BOOK. What do you think happened? Yep, I ran out of yarn. How many of you have run out of yarn for a project? Now let me tell you that no sweat poured from my forehead. I'm a spinner and dyer after all. That said, I had no more of the Cheviot wool/mohair fiber I had been using for the body and sleeves of the top-down jacket. See the past post, Four-Ply Cabled Yarn & Improvising, for more info on the spinning of that interesting, wool/mohair fiber combo. Want you to know that it was really no problem about not having any more of the original fiber. I look at running out as a design opportunity; something that ocurred because my jacket needed an ooomph of difference. What did I spin instead for the project? Luxurious 100% mohair, that's what. I spun Louet's lovely, fine mohair top (yearling, I do believe).

A handful of pretty mohair top.

A length of mohair, just beyond the average staple length, removed from the top.

I don't know about you, but I dislike too much fiber in my hands at one time. Therefore, since I was going to spin the mohair from the fold in order to incorporate as much air and loft as possible into the yarn, I split the little length of top in half.

Joining the fluff from the yarn to the fold of the mohair.

In the end, I liked spinning this mohair top from the fold when it was not over my index finger. I simply held it folded with my hands.

If you'd like more info on spinning from the fold, see the past post: Spinning From The Fold; Plus Stripping and Predrafting Commercially Prepared Fiber .

A skein of the mohair top that was immersion dyed with madder root and Osage orange is featured above. The handspun was pre-mordanted with alum. You may be happier, as I often am, of designing the singles of 100% mohair to turn into a looser, rather than tighter, 2-ply...especially if you're using the mohair for knitting. Too much twist will look rope-y in knitting, so do consider being careful about keeping the twist on the low-ish side.

There's me knitting a mohair sample swatch whilst wearing my comfortable moon and stars jammies. Chloe, excellent black cat, is my esteemed helper.

The above pic shows a swatch of various stitch patterns knitted with the naturally dyed mohair. In the end I liked the "Cartridge-Belt Rib," pg. 21, in "A Second Treasury Of Knitting Patterns, " by Barbara Walker. This pattern will edge the bottom of the body and sleeves of the jacket.

I like this 100% mohair yarn soooo much that I think I'll have to spin some more down the line for a 100% mohair sweater!

Lay down your weary tune, lay down
Lay down the song you strum
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum

The last of leaves fell from the trees
And clung to a new love's breast
The branches bare like a banjo played
To the winds that listened best

-Bob Dylan

True to my word, the blog posts are finally getting shorter in order to make time to work diligently on the BOOK. Thanks for your understanding. And please don't forget to comment now and again. It's kinda hard to receive over 70 comments when I'm running a contest and a mere handful when I'm not. Please know I enjoy each and every comment and would love to here from YOU.

Cheers, 'til next month...