Fiber Arts Friday: Casting on Small and Simple

A few weeks ago, I learned that I would be taking a work trip in the summer to the Desert Southwest.... and started thinking that I wanted a small and simple project to bring with me.

My Save Our Sheep Sweater is fairly bulky now and it has moments of not being simple.  So it is not a travel candidate.

My Scrappy Palindrome has been getting recent attention and is absolutely simple, but it is definitely not small.  So while this is a travel candidate (only because I will be driving and not flying), the size of it means it will be very warm to work on.... a nice feature in the winter, but not as nice in the summer... in the desert.  ;-)

I also have my Box o' Unfinished projects.  But none of this was really speaking to me.

So I started thinking that I should start a pair of simple socks.

Step 1 - Select Yarn

I had bought a pair of fun skeins I wanted to use for Hubba, but for the life of me, I am unable to find them... My yarn/fiber stash has always been reasonably organized.... but since the settling in at the new place is going slowly, most bets are off.

Toward the end of my packing, all kinds of un-related things ended up in boxes together... and clearly that particular box is yet to be un-packed. :-/

The good news is that I do have a small bin of Sock Yarns.  So I chose one that sparked my fancy.

Step 2 - Select Pattern

Since the yarn I chose has color variation, I want the pattern to be as simple as possible.

I am not a fan of color changes and patterning in the same piece.  It seems that a lot of people like this.  However in my experience, few do it well... and I am not one of those people.

While I have a large queue of sock patterns I want to try, I settled on the very simple, Sock it to Me pattern, which I've made a couple of times for Hubba.

Step 3 - Swatch

Since socks need to fit closely, understanding the gauge is essential.

The yarn label recommends US3.  Which is a good place to start... but US2 or US1 may be needed to get the right fabric for socks.

So I went to my inventory of tools.... which was not super successful.  I found a few US2s but only one US3, and nothing else in the range I was looking for.  Which meant I had to dive into the Box o' Unfinished Projects and make some decisions...

Pretty incredible how the idea of starting a simple, small project launches so many other activities. lol.

The resulting decision was to use US1 needles.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Interweave Yarn Fest

Toward the end of April, after our former place had sold, I actually had a quiet and restful weekend available..

Saturday was extremely windy, so my plans for outdoor activities were postponed and I took the opportunity to visit Interweave Yarn Fest.

Typically, this show has far more crazy-dyed yarn than I prefer.  But I am usually able to find a couple of vendors that are more up my alley.

Notable was that Eugene Textile Center had Silk Hankies, Noil, Cocoons, and the like...  I've been wanting to try silk in forms other than roving for quite some time... so I brought home some Hankies and De-gummed Cocoons.... all three are undyed.

I found a small amount of Kettle Dyed Yarn from Teton Yarn Company in Idaho.  I love the depth of color with kettle-dyed yarns.  There is some variation which makes it interesting, but not the overt crazyness that a lot of other people clearly love.

Then, on my way out, I noticed The Mendocino Wool and Fiber Company, who I learned about in reading Raw Material a couple of years ago.

They have breed-specific yarns and rovings, primarily in natural colors.  Their fibers are all grown local to them.  I was so excited to meet her, that I nearly gave her hug.

So... as usual, my trip to a Fiber Festival was worth it.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Colorado Weavers' Day, 2022

Colorado Weavers' Day is an every-other-year conference.  It is typically held the first weekend of May, and was founded in 2008.  I learned about it a few years ago, and this was the first time I was able to attend.

Last week, it was hosted by the Handweaver's Guild of Boulder.  The next event, in 2024, will be hosted by the Rocky Mountain Weaver's Guild.

There were four primary speakers, all very good.  As well as breakout sessions and introductions from each of the Guilds in Colorado.

It was quite interesting to learn more about the Guilds.  Some have as few as four members, where others are as large as a few hundred.  All are active in a variety of ways.

I'm thankful that this year was set up to be a virtual event.  As such, attendees came from as far away as Hawaii, Philadelphia, Ontario Canada, and England.

It was quite special for me to be able to spend an entire day dedicated to weaving.... listening to and talking with weavers: specifically about the other things that surround weaving, not just the weaving itself.  It was truly a wonderful event... and now that we're starting to feel settled in our new place, I've started to plan my next weaving project.  I am feeling quite happy.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Save Our Sheep Sweater, part 7

So while my Save Our Sheep Sweater was in Time Out and I pondered the options of to-TINK or not-to-TINK, and prepared the next yarn, Tunis, as if I would TINK.

Tunis

This skein would take me past the arm divide and into the effort of knitting 3 sections at the same time.  While I've been thinking I did not want to do this, I will for this breed band.

In each of the breed skeins, I am reserving ~3g to be included as yarn samples for a (hopeful) competition entry later this year... and with 6 rows before the sleeve divide at ~3g per row (same weight is a coincidence), I divided the cake as follows....

• Body:  18g (to get to the divide) + 3g + 50% = 63g
• Sleeves: 25% each = 19g x2
• Total Yarn = 101g

Ultimately, I did TINK.

After TINKing Navajo Churro, this is Clun Forest only

Hopefully, I'll find a way to use the Navajo Churro in this project later.

reclaimed Navajo Churro yarn

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Alpacamundo Monday: On the Other Side

I was hoping that I would be able to make a We're Done! Post, but that really depends on what the definition of done means.  :-)

When we embarked upon the challenge of moving our home and farm during a pandemic, 18 months ago, my definition of done was fully moved in, unpacked, and organized.

In the engineering world, we often ask... "Are you done or are you done-done?"

We are done.

There's a lot more to do, but we are on the downslope of this project.

It took some time to find a place that met our requirements... a single story that was indeed a single story, no stairs, no basement, appropriate zoning and facility set up, in the right location., with a style we liked, at a price we could afford....  We had a few of false-starts, but we finally found our new place this time last year.  Though, work had to be accomplished before we could move in. 

As of mid-winter, all of the animals were moved and we were working from and sleeping at the new place.... and as of the last few weeks, our former home/farm has closed it's sale.

This means that were are now only maintaining one property and not driving between two properties daily.  This alone, makes life more simple.

We have taken a few days to rest and begun to decompress from the last 18 months.  But it's spring, and there is a lot to do right now.  So as of this past weekend, we are mostly spring-cleaned, significantly unpacked, and reasonably organized with the things that are unpacked.

The goats and chickens that came with the new place trust us and have accepted our cat, Ruby.  The dog introductions will resume later this year.

The sprinkler system is working (just in time to get some rain) and the chickens are laying eggs again.

The alpacas and goats have forced some interim fence work and a deep freeze unveiled some less-than-ideal plumbing.

There is more unpacking and organizing to do, shearing to prepare for, dog and goat shed to collect, and high-priority improvements to begin.  So we may not achieve done-done for quite a while.

I think I'm ok with that, because there is also time now being taken for things like yoga, running, knitting, and sleeping... and we've been able to spend more time preparing delicious foods to nourish ourselves.

Life is good and on the right track.  :)