The Times They Are A Changin'

You know, the fact that I spend ten minutes going through my I-Tunes list for the right song to title the blog is ridiculous but it amuses me.

The title is apropos this week, as some of you know, as I'm moving on to a new job. I'm very excited about it and I think it's a good new challenge and I will get to work with a former co-worker and friend again. I've been very busy training my replacement at Jetboil, and my last day there is this coming Friday.

The only downside to the new job is that I will once again have to dress up. And since most of my stuff was really worn when I left Bianco, I got rid of it. So I've gone through my closet, and figured out what I still had (including the interview suit I had bought to interview for this job) which consists of 2 days of outfits. And 2 pair of shoes, one of which really don't match any of the aforementioned outfits. I did manage to find one suit yesterday, which gets me to 3 days, but this means that serious shopping is to come in the next two weeks as I start on November 30th. I do not relish clothes shopping. Book shopping, yarn shopping, yes, but clothes shopping, not at all. Honestly, I'd rather clean the bathroom. With a toothbrush. But I do think the job will be worth it.

In other news, I've done very little writing lately. There's been so much other commotion that I just have not wanted to do it. So I've been spinning instead. However I did manage to crank out a couple of more pages the other night, and I'll be revising them this morning to submit for my writing group's critique as it's my turn this month.

I did manage to finish one of the socks and knit the cuff of the second.

I also picked some fiber from my stash to spin. I had purchased a 2.25 oz Rainbow Ribbon Batt from Foxfire Fiber by Barbara Parry at one of the NH Sheep and Wool events. I love, love their stuff. This batt is Blue Faced Leicester sheep wool, Angelina (sparkly stuff), cashmere and silk. They also have a lot of Cormo wool, which I love. I have a ton of their stuff in the stash, so I'm sure it'll pop up in the blog one way or the other.

I spun this in a fine single as I was thinking that I wanted fingering weight yarn. I think the yarn wants to be a little decorative scarf or maybe fingerless mitts.




This is a picture of the singles on the bobbin and a picture of me holding the yarn being made to show the size of the singles.








I made a center pull ball with the singles with my ball winder and plied the center end with the outside of the ball end to make a two ply yarn. You can see the size of the two ply yarn as I'm holding it and as I'm winding it on to the bobbin.

What's disappointing about the pictures is you really can't see the Angelina. The sparkle is subtle but there in real life, but it isn't really translating in the pictures.

To all my friends who are knitting and partying in Vermont this weekend, hope you're having a great time, and try to not get arrested!

Tangled Up in Blue (Well, Teal, Magenta and Grey really)

I did find and buy and receive a replacement left footman connector for the Lendrum, which is shown below newly installed. I was able to order them from The Woolery. And may I just say what a pain that was. The screws that have to be removed have a little square in them instead of a flat head, philips or a hex or allen wrench. I was able to force them with a philips head, but I don't want to do that again. I also got a right side just in case but that side has 3 screws. Guess I'll be making a trip to Lowe's at some point to look for a screw driver that works with a square. Never seen one of those before.

Since the wheel was newly fixed, I decided to spin up the roving I got from Brian on Saturday.







I undid the braid. The roving was a little stuck together from the dying process, but it wasn't bad.








To make things flow easier, I predrafted the fiber, which just looks gorgeous here.





I spun the fiber into singles, shown in two pictures here.











Because the colors were so lovely, I decided to navaho ply them to keep them separate from each other rather than having a barber pole effect. You can see a video of navaho plying here.






And here's the finished yarn wound off onto a niddy noddy and then twisted into a skein.

Closer to Fine

Today Kiwi decided that the camera was not the Antichrist that she had previously believed, so she consented for a picture to be taken close up without me using the digital zoom.

Then when I walked into the living room two of the hermit crabs were hanging off the thermometer which is stuck to the side of the aquarium. I have no idea how they even get onto it, but they occasionally hang out there. I've never seen two of them do it at the same time though, so since I had the camera in my hand, voila!

The reason that I had the camera in my hand is that today Brian and Gerry who have previously taken some advanced knitting classes with me, had asked me about zippers. Given that the zipper in the last sweater I knit for Shawn took me six (yes, damn it, SIX) hours to hand sew into the sweater, I was interested in finding a better way to do this as well. So we decided to all research, make some swatches and all get together to see what we could do. Of course I needed the camera to document for the blog :)

This event had been planned for well over a month, because October's weekends had been so scheduled, I couldn't manage it before this. So of course, I wait until this week to do the research. I wanted to find a good way to sew zippers in with a sewing machine, because you know, I can spend six hours knitting or spinning, not hand sewing a freaking zipper into a sweater and ripping my fingers to shreds. Those of you who know me, or have seen the list of my knitting library on Ravelry know that I have a few knitting books. When we moved last, I think it was only six to eight boxes of them. Not one of my reference books had a description of using a machine. I did find two blogs that had directions one is here but that's it.

I made two sets of swatches. The first set was two swatches that were ribbed but had a slipped stitch selvage which was similar in pattern to the last sweater I made for Shawn, which is the Manzetter by Kelly Bridges at the Elegant Ewe. The second set was one that was a zipped neckline, but I used a slipped stitch selvage and two seed stitches on either side as described in the blog I found. I wanted to see if there was a difference in visibility in the machine stitch between the two.

Initially I tried to pin the zippers to the swatches. It was not happening. Brian's research had suggested basting, so I basted the zippers to the swatches with long running stitches with sewing thread in a contrasting color. I used the zipper foot on the sewing machine, and sewed down the center of the selvage stitch. Because I am paranoid about my knitting getting caught on the feed dogs of the machine, I borrowed a technique from my steeking bag of tricks and used paper underneath. You end up sewing the swatch to the paper, but it rips off easily and it feeds better. This was the result.
It's not bad. I used grey thread because (a) it was already on the sewing machine and (b) I wanted a different color so I could see what it was doing. I probably would like it better if the thread matched.
(Pictures enlarge if you click on them.)

The second swatches I did pretty much the same thing, except this is the one with the seed stitch, and I sewed just outside the selvage edge in the seed. There's a world of difference in visibility. You really can't see the thread except at the top. I think it would still work even if there was only one seed stitch instead of two. And it took no time at all, which is key.

Since Shawn has lost 60 pounds since the diabetes diagnosis, the two sweaters I knit for him are now somewhat voluminous. I wasn't looking forward to doing another one after the last zipper experience, but now I think I could do it without pain.

Brian found a technique to hand sew his zippers in using a crocheted edge, from a now out of print Barbara Abbey book that he was happy with. Gerry also used the machine, but steeked his swatch, so he was attaching the zippers to a steeked edge, which was cool to see. It was a good morning!

Brian and Gerry were very kind and gave me a gift card to the Elegant Ewe for hosting, as well as some of Gerry's homemade bread, which was so good, and some of Brian's hand dyed corriedale roving, which is just my color :)





I couldn't wait and dragged Shawn up to the Ewe as we had to go to Concord anyway. I got some Crystal Palace Mini Mochi, which I've wanted to try. and the Interweave Knits Accessories Special Issue, and Classic Elites Curvy Knits, which has sweaters sized more generously for the more ample among us.

I've been doing six loads of laundry as I've been writing this, but over all, it's been a really fabulous day. Stay tuned for further broadcasts.

Spinning Wheel

Yes, this is still a song title, just a particularly appropriate one. Today I decided to spin. I haven't in months, but I was in the mood today. It's amazing how much it's like riding a bike. My fingers still remembered what to do, and I was still able to spin as if I had not taken a break. (With the exception that my fingers are tired and will likely be tomorrow as well.)

I choose a merino hand blended batt that I bought from Sugar Bee Studios on Etsy. It was a four oz batt called "Politically Incorrect One Night Stand Fiber Batts" in color way Valentino. It was a nice easy spin and and it was a nice choice to start back into spinning, as there was only enough for one skein. I did a light worsted weight yarn. I'm thinking about making fingerless mitts out of it.

The first picture is the batt before I started spinning. The next pictures are the bobbin as I filled them up with single ply yarn













The last pictures are: the skein after I've plied it together (twisting two singles together to make a 2 ply yarn) having wound it off onto a niddy noddy; the skein after being taken off the niddy noddy; and the skein twisted into a hank.














The one bad thing is that the connector to one of my treadles broke. I was able to fix it, but I'm going to need to research getting a repair kit for the Lendrum.

During guild today, I managed to get to the toe on the sock I'm working on. I'm going to have to think about my next big project. I'm still close enough to the end of the shawl that I don't want something too crazily masochistic, but I do want a bigger project that uses a lot of stash yarn.

Yesterday was our second writing group meeting. I thought it went very well, and I am very much enjoying it. The women in the group are so interesting and talented. It's been very interesting to discuss our writing processes with each other.

Helene made a comment on my last blog about how I was pacing myself with the writing. Because I have so many things I want to do or that I have to do, it really hasn't been an issue yet. I don't have hours and hours to get carried away in. So mostly what I've been doing is scheduling a two hour block here, a half an hour there, or so on. The most I've actually written at one time was four hours, but that's because I was "making up" a two hour block I skipped. And even though it's fun, there's a lot of thinking involved, and I seem to need breaks to process. I've been having flashes about the story and plot at odd times like in the shower in the morning. I make a note and then I think about it some more to decide if that's really where I want to go. Or I'm trying out scenes in my head driving in or home from work. But I don't seem to have any problem getting up to go do something else when my scheduled time is up.

And speaking of which, I'm out of time on this blog post broadcast. Join us next time at our regularly scheduled time.

The Best is Yet to Come.

For those of you paying attention to my continuing practice of naming blog posts after songs, Tony Bennett's version of this song was the recessional at my wedding. I thought it was appropriate then and I still do, but in many other ways as well. I'm hoping to be a late bloomer in a lot of areas. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

In writing news, I now have 53 double spaced manuscript pages and 15,967 words. The goal is 100,000 words roughly or the end of the story. As many of you know, I've been trying to write for years, but it never really seemed to happen. I would plan characters, outline the entire plot, do a time line if it was complicated, and then I'd write 3 pages and drop it. I had a conversation with my friend Laura the other day about the draft this time, and why I'm actually getting anywhere with it. I think it's because this time, I planned the characters, and that was pretty much it. I took one scene from an exercise I did for an online writing class a couple years ago through Writers Online Workshops (Writer's Digest people), and I just started. I didn't even know what my plot would be. Now I have a vague three sentence idea of where I'm going, but it's just coming out as I move along. It seems like I just have to sit down for an hour and I have another 1,000 words.

I've been trying to figure out why I'm actually writing this time after so many failed attempts, and I think it's because I don't know where I'm going, so it's interesting. Every time I outlined everything, I was bored because I already knew what the story was going to be. Secondly, I think I have really and truly given myself permission this time to write utter garbage. If I don't worry about what other people will think when they read it, words end up on the page. I've been trying to do 20+ double spaced pages before I will allow myself to go back and revise what I just did, and I only get one rewrite of that material before I move on to the next 20+ pages. That way I'm not procrastinating by revising the thing to death.

I've been keeping a notebook in my purse to write bits in odd moments, and it's amazing how much you can get done while you eat lunch, or when you've got a minute to wait for something. I end up adding and revising when I type it in, so even bare bones sketches of what's going on in my nearly unintelligible handwriting ends up adding a lot more.

In fiber news, I think the third pattern change of the sock has done the trick. I've finished the heel and I'm half way down the foot of the sock. It's nice to work on small easily completed projects for a change. I'm saying this now, until I pull my next dumb masochistic knitter's trick. Shockingly I skipped Stitches East this year, even though it was in Hartford. I decided that it was too much time in the car and that my bank account couldn't handle it, and it's not like I couldn't go stash diving for years before I run out of yarn. So I let it go this year. I'm really going to try to make the attempt next year though.

Stay tuned for further updates from this station.

Black and Blue

Today was the Breast Cancer Walk. I would just like to express my sincere hopes that the organizers might think that June would be a good month to switch to having the walk. It rained and snowed. We only walked 3 miles, but because I was soaked and cold, I think I've had more muscle pain than I normally would. (Six ibruprofen has not put a real dent in the pain yet). I walked with my mother-in-law, Joanne (in the pink hat), my aunt-in-law Debbie (white hat), and my cousin-in-law Kelly.

Joanne went to Target and picked us up some pink gloves which were much appreciated. I also realized today that I don't have any sort of rain coat or windbreaker. I know I had some dollar store ponchos I keep on hand for NH Sheep and Wool (it rains every year), but I couldn't find them. I brought umbrellas but the wind keep turning them inside out, so there really wasn't a point in using them. It's amazing how soaked a Wellesley sweatshirt can get.

I've done the walk in Concord several times over the years, but I have not ever done one in Manch Vegas. We started at the Fisher Cats stadium, and the march started with the local chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians playing the bag pipes. I took really sucky pictures of that, and they remain sucky after I've cleaned them up on photo shop, but I'm putting them here anyway.

In other news, I finished Shawn's really boring hat. I slept oddly on Saturday night. I dozed off around 7 pm and then slept till 1 am, and then I was up from 1 am to 4 am, then slept from 4 am to 7:30 am. So the three hour stretch between 1 am and 4 am while I was watching random stuff on the History Channel allowed me to finish Shawn's hat. It was a quick knit even on #5 needles and sportweight, as I finished it in seven days. Well, eight I guess since it was done 4 hours after midnight. Doesn't Shawn look so thrilled to be modeling it??

I also ripped the sock back for the second time and picked a new pattern. I'm pretty sure this one is going to work this time though. If not, I'm sticking this yarn back in the stash to age for a bit until it can tell me what the heck it wants to be.

Evening Falls

The short answer is that I think I'm fine. After another mammogram, and two ultrasounds, I was told that they think it's fiberous/glandular mass, and I got a letter with the box checked that says (I kid you not) "Probably benign (probably not cancer.) Recommended for repeat mammogram in six (6) months." This sort of thing does not engender confidence in one's health care providers. I somehow don't really feel much better. I'm sure I'll get to the point where I can ignore it again until the next mammogram in six months, but honestly, at this moment I'd like to just get rid of them altogether. I know this is probably not a healthy viewpoint, but I just view them as ticking time bombs. If it does ever happen to me, I'm telling you, I'm not screwing around, it's going to be an immediate double mastectomy even if I have to pay for it. And I know that they say that doesn't always prevent it, but in my viewpoint it sure couldn't hurt. There'd be less tissue for anything to develop in.

But anyway, on to more cheerful topics. I went camping with some of the knitters this weekend at Paula's family's camp area in Ossipee. Fred make amazing mortadella, prosciutto, onion, tomato, and mozzerella paninis over the campfire for lunch, and a meatloaf in a dutch over, baked potatoes and grilled zucchini for dinner. He made homemade marshmellows for smores and I brought the Jetboil Helios and made chocolate fondue. We also used the PCS and my Flash prototype to make hot tea and cocoa, as it was unbelievably freaking cold.

Here's pictures of Fred playing with the Flash and working with the panini maker for the fire.















It was cold. Unbelievably cold. Hard to knit cold. Alison trying to wrap a scarf around her head to keep warm cold.















It was really fun, but despite a long sleeve shirt, my Wellesley double thick sweatshirt, a fleece, a shawl, hat and mittens and two sleeping bags, I barely slept because of the cold. I kept looking at the clock every hour or so, and I think I finally nodded off for a bit between 5 am and 6 am. Given that I had to work the next day, when it got light, I packed up my tent around 7am and headed home to try to get some sleep.

It was really fun, but I think next year we need to do it when it's warmer.