sweetgeorgia

SOAR… I’m actually going.

I *just* finished registering for SOAR… It’ll be my first time attending… so far, feeling a little tingly. It took me 20 minutes of hemming and hawing to finally commit the credit card number and during that time, Judith MacKenzie McCuin’s sessions ALL filled up completely. Ahhh well. I am signed up for Amy King’s Dye Crazy, Abby Franquemont’s Drum Carding, Janel Laidman’s Spinning for Socks, and Deb Menz’s Colour class. The amount of combined wisdom in all the instructors is absolutely insane and I can’t wait to drown in fibre and colour during that Halloween weekend.

Now, time to start organizing the resort lodging and 8.5 hour drive from Vancouver to Oregon! Anyone else going? Did you get everything you wanted and more? Anyone ever been? Suggestions to someone going for the first time?

Saltwater. I finished a sweater.

It’s sunny. It’s Friday. And I have a new sweater.

… more, better photos will be coming… but these are just quick snapshots until then.

It’s knit in my worsted weight yarn (Saltwater colourway) from the top down and finished with a stretch of vine lace at the bottom. I’m pretty sure I knit the sleeves the same length… I measured and everything… but it still “appears” as if one sleeve is longer than the other. Hmm. Maybe my arms aren’t the same length.

The design is my own and I’m knitting up a second version of it in a sportweight yarn. The worsted weight version was so quick to knit, it practically knit itself… but with the sportweight version, I’m seeking a lighter quality to the lace bit and a finer fabric altogether. I’m looking forward to more knitting this weekend…

I knit.

Yes, in fact, I do still knit. Unfortunately, I don’t think I am particularly productive… my knitting speed is not terribly bad, but I just never seem to finish things… all the while, I have a million things I want to make. I think one of the Twist Collective issues had an article about knitting productivity. Something about always asking yourself if you are knitting… if not, why not? It’s not about knitting fast, it’s about always knitting. It is, of course, a little bit difficult to always have knitting in your hands when you are busy mixing dyes and bookkeeping, or lesson planning and warping, but that is probably the same as anyone with a day job. I don’t have a television, so there’s very little sitting-down time. Some days, I fantasize about afternoons where I have no responsibilities, no phone calls to make, no emails to answer… and I can just sit and knit for hours at a time. Maybe that day will be today. It’s sunny and warm in Vancouver today. It’s Friday.

Here’s what I’m actually knitting:

I guess it’s a recurring theme… the need to focus on one direction. I don’t know if this is a lesson I will ever fully learn. I’m just too easily distracted by lovely, engaging things.

On a totally different tangent, I was so happy to see Alexa’s yarns up on her blog… several weeks ago, she was in our dye class at the studio and produced some beautiful hand dyed yarns.

Another student came by the studio this week to show me some of the panda roving she spun up recently… so utterly fabulous… that and her “Wicked” sweater in Cascade 220 complete with front pocket (I love it and am tempted to make one now). A few girls have contacted me about renting wheels to try their hand at spinning and I’m constantly delighted that there are new spinners being born each day.

The weather is getting phenomenal in Vancouver and in the upcoming weeks, I’d love to host a little spin-in at the studio… most likely on a Saturday afternoon. Possibly May 23rd? We’ll see. Drop me a line if you might be interested in coming with your wheel… or your knitting… ’cause, as you know, I do still knit.

CashSilk Fern

Back in the fall when I travelled to Japan, I brought along one single skein of CashSilk Lace to knit something on the plane. Some kind of planes, trains and automobiles kind of knitting. Lace that was easy enough to remember and interesting enough to keep me knitting. After a few false starts and frogging fits, I ended up with this lace pattern from A Treasury of Knitting Patterns… the diagonal fern lace… and now it’s a cashmere and silk scarf.

My scarf pooled a bit in some sections and not in other sections… but it was fascinating to keep knitting and seeing where the pooling might happen. Of course, you can bypass the drama by using a semi-solid or totally solid colour.

Since it’s super easy and super nice, I’ve done it up in a snazzy PDF plus handy lace chart for your enjoyment. Should you have a need for easy, but interesting lace…

Check out the CashSilk Fern pattern »

Warping for plain weave workshop

Last week, I received my warp for the upcoming Jane Stafford workshop and have just started warping the table loom in preparation. I’m going to be using a Schacht 15″ 4-shaft table loom and have started warping from front to back. The warp is destined to be “plain weave with supplementary warp” and came all nicely chained up in a bag with detailed instructions and weft yarns. Looks like most of the yarn is 2/14 linen and 3/30 linen sett at 12 epi. I’ve never worked with linen before, so this is a completely new experience for me. So far, I’ve discovered that linen has a mind of its own.

I’m pretty sure linen likes to be warped from back to front, but I don’t own a raddle and my efforts to make my own raddle from a piece of plywood and spare nails have been delayed… because I need nails, or can’t find my hammer, or some such fuss. Besides, I like sorting out the warp threads and colours first and making sure that it’s all correct before everything gets wound onto the back beam.

I’m also trying to salvage this beautiful cotton warp. It was originally put on the small table loom and then I decided that I wanted to re-sley it for a tighter sett… so I cut it off the loom, maintaining the cross, and now I am just reassembling it on the big Spring loom. It’s now sett at 30 epi for a nice warp-faced look.

It’s finally the weekend, and I have new toe-up socks on the go.