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Now that Chris and I are empty nesters, I can forgive him for the following question, but do know that HE KNOWS that he'd best not proclaim the following exclamation next year. Chris said, "So now that the kids are gone we'll be getting a smaller Christmas tree. Yes?" My response was something like, "So now that the kids are gone all fun is erased from our lives? No!" Geesh. Think again, my handsome husband. Plus I told him, "And you get to help me trim the tree...a first in our nearly 29 years together!!" And he did help with the ornaments! We laughed hysterically as he picked out one homely ornament after another, questioning why any of them were to be exhibited on our tree. I suppose the 8 plastic wishbones with plastic roses on them are a bit over the top...but hey, maybe they're fabulous for good luck. Never mind that some of these ornaments were stored in a sanitary napkin box from the early 80's... Very classy.
In the earlier part of December Chris traveled to Denver for some gigs, musician that he is. We like to pick Christmas cards out together but this time I asked him to get some neat cards from Denver whilst he was there, as he's a really good picker-outer. So indeed, he came back with a wonderful and rather unusual box of holiday cards. A day or so after he came home from Denver, I needed to go to Greenfield, MA to shop for something or t'other. We went inside a bookstore and lo and behold, there were the same cards he had picked out. I began to exclaim that, "Why, there they are..." Chris broke out in laughter saying, "I never had time to get the cards in Denver so I stopped in Greenfield on my way home from the airport." I giggled and said, "What on earth did you go to the bother of doing that for?" He said, "You were so gung-ho on cards from Denver, I didn't want to disappoint you. Maybe you thought Denver-ish cards were special or something." Is he a cutie or what?!!! Maybe Denver-ish cards are splendid. Someday I'll have to find out.
An ice storm hit our area in Southern VT a few weeks ago. We were without power for 56+ hours, with no emergency power backup whatsoever. It was kinda fun reading by flashlight, snuggled under our flannel sheets...well, at least for one night. But by the second night, it was getting decidedly colder indoors and Chris and I were reminded that we were not graceful, nor seasoned campers.
What made me particularly sad was the damage and devastation to trees, bushes and plants. I swear you could hear the trees moaning in pain as they tried valiently to hold up their ice-covered branches. The maple tree in our back yard split to the left and to the right. Thankfully the maple didn't split towards our roof. Now my Chris is a lot of things, but he's not a chainsaw kind of guy. That means we'll have to get a tree-guy in for tree removal, which will undoubtedly prove to be an interesting, upcoming event.Three Lunar Ladies carpooled to my home two days before my birthday, despite snow falling heavily all day. The fourth Lunar Lady came later, when the weather was even worse, saying to Chris as she arrived, "That wife of your's........!!!" Who, moi?
Here's Jenna, Leslie, and E on arrival! Jenna is either catching sleepy, winterized flies or singing. Your guess. E is obviously doing some form of the boogaloo.
The spider at 51. Leslie commented about the church on the table saying, "I bet you loved that as a kid." Indeed I did. It was my Ma's and can be lit up with a bulb, illuminating the stained glass windows, AND it plays "Silent Night." Anyone else have a church like this?
Leslie knows a lot about wines. Here she is opening up the red wine for our party.
And above you'll find Jenna whacking a geode in my dye studio, aiming to reveal its inner, crystal secrets. Every time the Lunar Ladies get together, I like to gift each of them with a healing crystal. This month's crystal is in the form of a geode. The geode is inside the old sock and Jenna is shown using the side of the hammer as she attempts to blast it open. Visible sparks began to shoot off the whacked sock and one spark even hit Jenna's foot. Despite much effort, no geodes cracked open. Everyone decided to delay their whacking. I, on the other hand, called inside for Chris, man of the house. This made the Lunar Ladies roll their eyes, disgusted and feeling I was wimping out calling my man. So be it.
Here are geodes where barely a dent is made in them. Well, to be fair, E chose not to whack her geode (it's in the upper left hand corner and she liked how it looks rather like a snail or turtle as is).
Here's my geode in all its crystal glory.More Lunar Ladies shenanigans... A lot of re-gifting goes on amongst us.
Here's Jenna with someone's regifted ladybug lights on her head, no less. She is holding up a green, Hickory Farms' Melt Away mint. Chris bought a bag for me for old times sake (I used to work at Hickory Farms as a teen in Deee-troit). See the past post, The Road To Becoming a Fiber Artist, Part One, for more on my early jobs.
We Lunar Ladies all adore fibers and often bring show-n-tell for joint admiration. E crocheted this delicious hat using her own llama handspun yarn; fiber provided by Milagra. E, do tell us more about the spinning and making of this hat in the comment section, please. [spider adds: See comments for E's details about this project.] Also let us know which magazine you got the pattern from. Thanks!
More crocheted goodies by E, this time in the form of half-mitts. Again, do let us know about the pattern and yarn, please. [spider adds: See comments for E's details about this project.] The heart crystals are (left) flourite and (right) malachite. Any of you fantastic readers out there love crystals as much as we do? Do tell us about your faves!
Above is a pic of Leslie holding The Green Mountain Spinnery's, "Ascutney Mountain Hat." The pattern was designed by the talented Melissa Johnson. This pic shows the double decrease at the crown.
And here's the dashing side view.
Speaking of the Green Mountain Spinnery, here's one of the owners! Maureen is holding a goldstone pendulum that I gifted her...perfect for a Taurus Sun.
Now ya never know what the Lunar Ladies will get up to when we get together. For whatever reason, 5 feet needed to be in the pic with my birthday cake. The cake was Leslie's FAMOUS walnut pound cake. To die for. The cake, not the feet, for goodness sakes.
The gang's all at my home.What follows are some much appreciated, interesting, and perhaps on the unusual side, gifts given to the spider. I thought you may enjoy seeing the diversity.
What a GORGEOUS spider pin, eh? It was gifted by E and Jenna. Thank you, E and Jenna!
Maureen KNOWS I love orange, so she gifted a sacral chakra candle holder in glorious orange, a book on "Spirit Guides and Angel Guardians," and some delicious, crown chakra-opening tea (which I happen to be drinking as I type this). Thank you, Maureen!
If you've been reading the spider for awhile, you'll know I'm a potato-loving gal. Leslie gifted me with a snazzy, new potato peeler, a book on potato growing and cooking and a very funny book of knitting cartoons entitled, "It Itches." Thank you, Leslie!
Jenna didn't miss a beat gifting me a book on the, "Birth of a Modern Shaman," a little book necklace with real pages to write on (to inspire me to finish my BOOK...I shall write the title, "Spinning Around," on the first page), and, of course, what Birthday/Christmas would be complete without a Halloween pumpkin dish. Thank you, Jenna!
Jenna also didn't forget Chloe. She loves her knitted and felted, catnip-filled, mousie. And a paw-wave thank you to Jenna from Chloe!
Skip ahead to Christmas eve, when Chris and I each have the tradition of opening one of our presents under the tree. Above is Chris' gift to me and a better gift could not have been given. Chris knew that "Candy Fashion" was my all-time favorite doll. He knew this because the original dress on my original doll in 1963 (exactly like the dress above) has been kept (albeit, in tatters) in my upper dresser drawer for 40+ years. When we saw that Candy Fashion was being offered by the Vermont Country Store, complete with 3 other outfits and all accessories (looking just like the originals...including a pillbox hat), Chris couldn't resist ordering her for me for Christmas. I love that doll, but I LOVE Chris.
The above pic shows my Ma's creche, which I have displayed under our Christmas tree this year. Note the knitted star. Eagle-eyed knitters will know that the star's pattern was featured in the "August" chapter, "Christmas Fiddle-Faddle in the Wilds," of "Knitter's Almanac," by Elizabeth Zimmermann. I gave this star, knitted from gold yarn, to Ma back in the 80's and she, herself, tied it onto the creche. Makes me weepy to think of it. Sniff.Hiccup. I've received e-mails and inquiries about whether Emi, Alexander's girlfriend in Japan, said YES? Why yes, she did! Yay!!!!! Al and Emi are now engaged. Congratulations to you both! Al's still in Japan and they recently came back from an emotional trip to Hiroshima.
Emi is an excellent photographer...
Just look at the amazing spider who set up shop somewhere in Chiba.
What's a Greek guy doing with a hat like that?!!!
And here's the lovely Emi, not looking like a mean warrior at all!
Lovebirds in Hiroshima.
And a close-up of the lovebirds...Thank you from Alex and Emi for ALL your good wishes!
Hiccup. Received the following pics and this friendly and welcome e-mail from Emily.
Hi Jenny- How nice of you to take an interest in my little project I mentioned on your blog's comments. I started it quite a while ago and it's been languishing. I'm blending some very pretty aquamarine-colored merino mill ends with some champagne angora on my hand carders. I’m not weighing anything, just eyeballing the amounts. I'm then using my Schacht Matchless on the double-drive setting to practice my long-draw. You can tell by my uneven yarn that I still have a lot of practicing to do! I’m hoping to make the final results into a dk-ish weight yarn to make a lacy scarf for my aunt. Not sure when it'll be complete as I keep getting distracted by the item in the last picture. (As a related note, I cannot express the level of cuteness that ensued when I handed him the basket of rolags. Too bad my poor photos don't do it justice. And I have to redo most of the rolags...) Thanks again for all your great information. I can't wait to get it in a form that has pages to turn! Emily
Thank you, Emily, for your kind words and for sending the great pics. We'd love to see your scarf when finished, please. Your aunt's a lucky woman!
A close-up of a very pretty angora/merino blend.
Handspun and fibers.
Dandy rolags!
Oh my gosh, what a cutie! Bet he loved getting hold of those soft and cushy rolags!!!Hiccup. Back when I lived in Toronto, Ontario, Canada I made this 30-Step Triaxial to fulfill a homework assignment for a spinning certificate program (a program which, by the way, I never finished). Over the years I've shown the triaxial to many a student in classes I've taught. A lot of folks really liked the idea that many colors can be made with just the three primaries, yellow-red-blue, and additionally armed with hand cards or a drum carder. In each corner of the triaxial you'll find the primaries. I synthetically dyed some naturally white Polypay wool for this exercise. As you go from one primary to another, you blend 10% more of the color your heading to. For instance, if we start at the top with yellow heading towards red, the next "cinnamon bun" (as I call the balls of fluff) is made from 90% yellow and 10% red. The bun after that is 80% yellow and 20% red. In this exercise, I did decide how much total fiber weight I could card at a time and weighed the two colors that would make up the total with a scale. If you work in grams, the math is less messy, because everything is in 10's.
The triaxial.
The three buns in the middle of the triaxial demonstrate how I picked one of the buns along the side (in this case my "base color" would be 90% yellow and 10% red...see below) and I combined it with a % of black for a shade of the base color; a % of white for a tint of the base color; and a % of grey or beige for a tone of the base color. Can you see/imagine, depending on the %'s used and the base color you start with, the skies the limit with the colors you can come up with?!! So remember, if you have just the primaries and some hand cards, you'll have a rainbow of color at your fingertips. Also, think of the neat shading projects you can create!!!
Here's the 90% yellow and 10% red base color I used when tinting, toning, and shading above. Whooosh! If that doesn't get your creative juices flowing, I don't know what will.Finally, here's some thoughts about how I choose various fibers for whatever project I have in mind.
Choosing Fibers
As a handspinner who only uses my own handspun for knitting, I’ve been asked how I choose which fibers I want to work with knowing I want to knit a commercial yarn pattern geared to a non-spinning crowd. How does one choose which fiber(s) to use when designing a pattern? What follows are some points I often consider when choosing fibers to spin for a knitting project.
Does the yarn need to be/have:
• Elastic/bouncy or non-elastic/bounce-less
• Dense/heavy or airy/light
• Thin, medium or thick
• Tight twist, medium twist, loose twist
• Textured or smooth
• Halo or fuzz-less
• Soft or hard
• Warm or cool
• Short or long fibers
• Coarse or fine or somewhere in-between
• Slick or toothy
• Luster or matte
• Dyed or undyed
• Added zing via neps, noils, other inclusions such as beads, dashes of color or other fiber, glitz, etc.
• Stiff or flowing with regards to drape
All these points and more help me to judge a fiber’s suitability for a given project. Additionally, these points affect how I’ll prepare and/or spin the yarn in order to make the most of the fiber’s qualities. It pays to research a fiber’s qualities. Such research is beyond the scope of this blog. However, searching online or in the library in order to learn the qualities of a fiber, especially a breed of wool you’ve not encountered or a fiber you’ve never used or encountered can prove invaluable.
Consider your end use. Does the project require yarn that is hard-wearing, delicate, dressy, everyday/utilitarian, breathable, dye-able, is the itch factor important, etc.? Can I make such a yarn from the fiber I’m considering? Do I want to make a handspun yarn exhibiting the same qualities inherent in the commercial yarn recommended in a pattern?
If using a commercial pattern, perhaps it’s easiest to substitute wool handspun if the commercial yarn recommended is wool, keeping in mind that all wool breeds do not exhibit the same qualities. However, what if we want to have a silk yarn or yarn of some other fiber for the project that originally called for wool? In other words, if I change the fiber type from the yarn that’s featured in a pattern, how will that choice change the yarn I need to spin, and ultimately, affect how the handspun acts in the final project?
If we choose a blend, how do we know which fibers will work well together? How will we know which %’s of the fibers we want to include would work best?
How easy is it to spin my fiber choice into a yarn the size that the pattern is calling for? Am I willing to change gauges if I decide to change the size of the yarn recommended? Will changing gauges really alter the pattern’s numbers or overall look of the piece I want to make, or will I easily be able to convert to the new gauge?
If I change fiber type, will I need to consider the amount of plies in order to correspond directly to the commercial yarn called for in a pattern. For example, it’s not uncommon to find a commercial wool yarn that is 8+ plies. Is it practical or necessary for me to spin for that many plies? If I choose not to spin that many plies, will it change the nature of the yarn? What would happen if I want to spin a singles only, relating to the size of the yarn called for in the pattern?
All of the above questions and more lead me to suggest that you SAMPLE, SAMPLE, SAMPLE! As a handspinner, I have no time not to sample. Before you spin up oodles of fiber into yarn, only to find that your yarn and fiber does not work well in your chosen project, spin a bit and sample. For an easy, painless, start to sampling, see the past post, Spinning Singles Successfully For Knitting; Postage Stamp Swatching; Witches' Ball; Southern Vermont Fiber Event; and Lisa's Sweater, featuring Postage Stamp Swatching. Once you’ve established the yarn you like and want to use via postage stamp swatching, spin up enough of it for a good-sized swatch, of 4 or more (the thicker the yarn, the bigger the swatch needed for accuracy) square inches. Try different needle sizes within the swatch, separating the different areas with a purl row. I first like to make a stockinette swatch edged in a few stitches of garterstitch. If I’m going to knit with a stitch pattern that differs with stockinette, then I make another swatch using that stitch pattern, as well. Sound like a lot of work? The alternative would be guessing and making up your project using your handspun, only to find the piece doesn’t look or feel right, or worse yet, doesn’t fit.
I'll end this post with an announcement of an important change relating to this blog. I first want to thank all for your encouraging e-mails and comments to continue the blog I began 2 1/2 years ago. I started to cry with joy when I received comment # 19 today from "Simon Spins." Thank you, Simon, and to your mom, Fiber Ninja. I WILL keep the blog, but I have to let you know that there will undoubtedly be less really long spinning tutorials from here on out. That doesn't mean I won't chat about spinning or dyeing or knitting, it just won't be as intense as you're used to reading here. That said, I ask YOU to keep the spinning info on the blog alive and healthy by posing questions on any spinning/dyeing/knitting issues you may be encountering and I'll do my best to help and will ask for help and ideas from readers. I LOVE to get pics and a write-up like Emily sent me for this post, so I encourage anyone who wants to send me jpgs and chat about your handspun and/or projects, please do so. One of the reasons for this change I'm proposing is the continued push to finish the BOOK. Also, I have finished with my projects for the BOOK and I'm sure you'll understand that you'll have to wait for the BOOK to be published in order see them and read about them fully. The cool bit about this news is that I'll be able to chat on the blog about non-BOOK-related projects that will undoubtedly find their way on to my wheel, on to my spindle, into my dyepot, and eventually into my knitting bag. At this point I can assure you a continued once-a-month post about this 'n that, but who knows...maybe I'll eventually go back to more, but much smaller, posts each month. Does that sound good to you? Hope so. Keep those comments coming 'cause that's the cream of the blog a far as I'm concerned, keeps me revved, and let's me know my tappings are of interest to you.
'til next time. Wishing you all a peace-filled, exciting, and creative 2009!
