Swatchless

Evan and I spun up about 30 grams of two ply white yarn while we traveled across various Massachusetts campgrounds.  When I came home, I enjoyed some quality time with my spinning wheel as it was too hot to do much else!

spinning by candlelight

This roving (from Island Alpaca on Martha’s Vineyard) spun up very nicely.  The singles are smooth and drafting was so easy.  The green roving spun up to be rather vibrant…

…and the multicoloured roving had a blend from pink to blue to brown.  I’m always intrigued to see what dyed roving will look like on the wheel.  Here’s the before picture:

Here’s the after picture:

I split the entire roving down the middle after it was dyed, and spun each half in sequence to make sure that the colours would be relatively consistent across the entire bobbin.  I want to make mittens with this yarn, and sometimes when you spin without the final project in mind, you can end up with a very fraternal pair!

To tone down the green, I decided to ply these two bobbins together to make a brown/green tough colour.

The result was this skein of variegated green two ply yarn.  It’s a light DK weight, ready to be knit into mittens for Evan.Hopefully the fun memories of our alpaca farm visit, and cooking up this tough colour over the campfire will keep his hands warm all winter long.

After our visit to Island Alpaca, Evan and I returned to our campsite, got groceries (which included vinegar and food colouring) and cooked dinner while we dyed most of the white wool roving that we bought.  We kept some of it white for a spinning lesson, and dyed two different batches (using up all of our cooking pots).

We got all our materials ready, and then wet the wool with water, then added some vinegar.  The vinegar is acidic, and wool needs to be in an acidic condition to accept the colour of the dye.  You could use kool-aid instead, since it is already acidic, but Evan decided that he wanted to make tough colours, so pink, purple, orange and baby blue wouldn’t cut it.

We transferred the wool to our cooking pot (it’s ok to do this since we are just using vinegar and food dye). We added lots of food colouring to be sure we would get a deep colour.

yellow + blue = green

Our other dye pot was more of a mix of all the colours.

We had to be sure that the water didn’t boil.  We didn’t want any turbulence in the pot which might encourage felting.  This is harder to control when you are dyeing on the campfire–pretty easy to control on the stove, or in the microwave.

As the mixture cooks, all the colour gets soaked into the wool and the water will eventually appear clear.  I wasn’t sure how this pot would end up.  Right now it looked kinda like a brown mess.

multitasking is a great thing.  We cooked our meal while we cooked our wool.  Tinfoil package dinners or hotdogs on a stick are good menu ideas when all your cooking pots are occupied.

The mixture of colours ended up looking quite interesting.  We put it on the fence post to dry overnight.

After our scrumptious dinner, I got out my drop spindle to spin up some of the fiber that we had left dry and white.

Evan learned to spin by candle light.   He did a really good job!  We took turns, and got quite a lot done that evening.

Stay tuned to see what all that lovely roving has turned into….

While on vacation this summer, Evan and I ended up taking the ferry from Falmouth Harbour to Martha’s Vineyard, where we spent the day walking around exploring, and navigating the bus routes to arrive at Island Alpaca.  If you are ever in the area, it’s worth a trip.

image source: islandalpaca.com

I was really excited to see alpaca, and was eager to get my hands on some luscious spinning fiber.  Evan had never seen alpaca before, and couldn’t really understand why I was so excited, but he got pretty excited himself when he saw the cute animals frolicking in the fields.

They make whining and grunting noises, and one of them let our a real squack!  When they run, their thin long necks seem oddly misproportioned.  The first field we saw had a self guided tour of posters on the fence posts.  As we took our time reading all the information (good English practice for Evan), we noticed several of the young male alpacas with necks tangled, wrestling each other into the dirt, biting and spitting at each other.  Boys will be boys I guess!

image source: islandalpaca.com

We followed the signs to the barn and saw more alpacas inside.  They were way too busy eating, or moved too quickly to photograph well in the dim light.

Next up was the lovely farm store with yarn and roving and knitted things of all shapes and sizes.  I think Evan got a kick out of seeing me totally hypnotized by the soft fiber.  I met Philippe who showed me where the roving was hiding.  He’s a spinner too, so we had a good time chatting about spinning things as I tried not to drool over the superfine jet black alpaca roving.  It was so gorgeous that I had to buy 8 oz worth, and probably should have gotten more when I had the chance.  I’ve started spinning it, and it spins like a dream!

Philippe and the girls

Through another doorway, and we were out with the female alpacas and the HUGE guard llama.  We could get close enough to pat them as they were eating.  They are the softest fluffiest creatures I’ve ever met.  Evan kept repeating a phrase from Despicable Me:  “It’s so fluffy, I’m gonna die!”.  I think that in this case, it is a valid statement.

Philippe and a cria

Philippe picked up one of the babies (young alpaca are called cria), and this one was even softer than the other older alpaca.

On our way out, we purchased alpaca fiber, and some white wool fiber to dye and spin back at our campsite (more on that later!).

Everywhere on the island is so pretty.  Here are some of the more beautiful views we saw that day.

First of all, I’d like to thank all of my guest blogging friends who have shared their knitting adventures over the past month while I was out having some adventures of my own.  This past month has been a whirlwind of road trip and camping adventures with my friend Evan.  For the full story check here.

Of course, I brought along a knitting project with me–a sock!

Pattern: My recipe for Basic Toe Up Socks (Ravelink)

Yarn: Regia self striping sock yarn of some variety

The first sock was knit while relaxing on the Nile, and chilling out in the desert with the nomads last summer.  I started this sock when I was staying at my cousin’s house in Connecticut on my first evening on the road.  We watched a movie, and I knit, trying to stay awake and figure out “who done it” before the film ended, or I fell asleep.  I had never driven more than 3 hours in a day before, to either Toronto or Montreal.  This day marked many firsts: first time to drive across the border, first time to drive almost 7 hours in a day, first time to meet my cousin’s baby girl who is now 17 months old.

The next day I continued on my journey, visiting Yale campus…

…and skirting the coast of Connecticut and Rhode Island so I could see the ocean before heading to Providence to meet my friend.

sunset at Watch Hill Rhode Island

We camped in Myles Standish state park, and then visited a near by cranberry bog to see the crop as it grew, then we followed some signs to find the Ocean Spray cranberry processing plant.

Ocean Spray, Carver MA.

The next stop was Cape Cod, where we visited some gorgeous beaches, played in the freezing cold surf, and went whale watching!  We saw so many humpback whales, but either because they moved so fast, or I was too excited, or the boat was lurching too much on the swells, I ended up with very few good pictures of whales.  It was such a spectacular day, even the naturalists on board were excited by what we saw.  This whale was much more cooperative, posing for a picture with my sock.  I had to wait a while for all the passing kids to get off of it.  For some reason everyone wants to ride whales (even Evan).

Dolphin Fleet Whale Watching, Provincetown MA

After our stay on the cape, we explored Boston museums and aquariums, then went to Six Flags New England, all of those places were far too exciting for knitting.  Things calmed down a bit when we returned to Providence to get Evan all settled in his residence room and get things like student cards and meal plans figured out.

Brown University, Providence RI

At the end of my journey, just as I was preparing to leave, Evan’s panda was willing to pose with my vacation socks.  The completed one was the 2009 version, and the one that is almost done is the 2010 version.  They match, up to a point.  For some reason, there was a knot in the ball of wool for the 2010 sock, so the stripes suddenly reverse their orientation.  Now I will know which sock is which!

Evan's Room, Providence RI

I have not yet finished this summer’s sock.  I think it is because I am not willing to admit that my vacation is over.   I’m going to wait until the last possible moment before I finish those final rows of ribbing, cast off and weave in all the ends.  There’s something symbolic about finishing this project for me, something that signifies the end of summer, the end of my adventures, and the beginning of a more structured and stressful routine for the next 10 months.  I need to take time to make this transition.

Here’s the question you have been asked each September of your youth…What did you do on your summer vacation?

This weekend there’s a pretty neat event happening in Kingston.  I urge you to go check it out if you are in the area.  It’s the 23rd annual Sheep Dog Trials held this Friday to Sunday at Grass Creek Park (2991 Hwy 2) about 16km outside of Kingston.  If transportation is a challenge, there are free shuttle busses from downtown Kingston (check the city website).  Admission is $10 a day, kids 10 and under are free.

I had never been to the sheep dog trials before, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  I guessed I’d see lots of sheep, and dogs, and herding.  Of course, that is the main event, but there is so much more!  If you go on Saturday you can watch the Sheep-To-Shawl competition, which I’m sad that I missed.  I’ll have to go back again next year and catch it.  The competition is done in teams, starting with fleece, and ending up with woven shawls by the end of the day.  Be sure to check it out if you are there tomorrow.

herding in action

There are so many things for kids to do!  Face painting, pony rides, a petting zoo, educational programs about birds of prey….

barn owl (no longer found in this area)

….spinning….

Doreen, the woman who taught me to spin

….and even sheep sheering–I had a great time watching this demonstration, and the kids really loved it too!

before

Bill McMaster demonstrates how sheep sheering can be done without electricity.  A volunteer turns the crank, which powers the clippers.

three cheers for kid power!

The clippers move really fast, and take all the fleece off the sheep.

The kids were eager to feel the sheep after it had a haircut.

after

The fleece was gathered up, and Bill and Hamish demonstrate how to use a drop spindle.

They spun and plied wool, from the grease, and made wool bracelets for all the kids–I got one too!  If you have a chance to stop by and talk to these guys, it is worth it!  Check their clock for shearing time, and you’ll be in for a real show.

If you are in the market to purchase anything wooly, from dyed roving to finished garments, there’s lots for you to see.  My favourite alpaca vendor, Silver Cloud Alpaca, is there selling lots of squishably soft yarn, roving and blended batts.

I couldn’t resist, and didn’t really want to resist purchasing some fiber to spin.  It is the very best alpaca fleece I have ever encountered.

They had two alpaca there too!  Aren’t they gorgeous?

There were so many sheep dogs, but there were also non-sheep dogs competing in several activities.  There was an agility trial obstacle course, and also a dock jumping area run by dockdogs.

taking the leap

Dogs jump off the dock into a big pool to get a toy.  Some dogs have great long jumping ability, and others are not quite ready to make the leap.  I was experimenting with a new camera mode (new camera is Olympus Stylus Tough 3000)–this one takes high speed rapid succession shots.  Pretty cool I think!

the leap

long distance!

the splash!

All in all, I was surprised at how many people were there today.  I imagine that Saturday and Sunday it is even busier.  Get there early.  The events start at 9AM. Bring a lawn chair, lunch, cash for your emergency yarn purchasing, and be sure to have a hat, sunscreen and lots of water.

I’m headed off on Saturday for a little bit of a vacation on the east coast of the USA.  A friend and I are roadtripping and camping through Massachusetts, and spending some time on Cape Cod.  Relaxation on the beach, seeing the sights, whale watching, museum hopping–all sounds good to me!

image source visitrhodeisland.com

I’ve packed up all the necessary camping gear, and all that remains is to pack up my knitting.  My plan is to work away on sock #2 of the pair that I started last summer on my vacation in Egypt and Jordan (vacation pics here!).  Socks are a project that you can always keep with you for ferry/train rides, and these particular socks are very plain, so I’m sure I could knit them in the dark around the campfire too!  My travel companion has mentioned that he wants to try knitting….so who knows, maybe he’ll do a row or two as well.

One of the neat gadgets I picked up this year from Knitpicks.com was a set of sock needle protectors.

image source: knitpicks.com

They are two cardboard tubes blocked off on one end, open at the other, with a slot cut in them large enough to hold socks/mittens in progress.

Hopefully this will save me from impaling my fingers, poking a hole in my bag, losing needles, or accidentally dropping a needle’s worth of stitches and having them unravel in my bag all day long.

I have several friends that have scars to prove the power of an accidental sock needle impaling.  I don’t need to tempt fate!

Tonight, I cast on, and we’ll see how things go.  I will do my best to blog from the road if I can find the internet.

Buy the pattern for this cozy set for $4.00 CAD

August brings with it the threat of some chilly evenings, specially for those out camping.  This hat and mitts set were designed for a quick end of summer knit.  Toss them in with your camping gear, and be toasty warm all night.

Knit in the round with a garter stitch border, they are decorated with butterfly stitch.  Knit the hat in cotton and enjoy it as a summer beanie.  Knit it in wool or alpaca it will warm you all winter long, and you will be forever remembering the beautiful butterflies of summer.

Model: Milena

This pattern is suited to someone who is an intermediate knitter or beyond; it is a great way to practice knitting in the round, and add a new stitch to your repertoire.

Skills:  Cast on, Knit, Purl, Knitting in the Round, Increasing, Decreasing

Size: Adult Small
Yarn: worsted weight yarn
Needles: 4 mm DPNs or circular for hat
Gauge: 4.5 sts per inch, 6 rows per inch in stockinette stitch

Buy your .pdf copy of the Butterfly Hat and Mittens pattern now for only $4.00 CAD

Get out there and enjoy your chilly autumn nights in style!

If you like this pattern, you may also enjoy some of my others.

You know when inspiration hits, and you can’t really seem to put a new project down?  I know that sometimes it’s easy to get lost in a book.  This time I got lost in a pair of mittens.  For some unexplainable reason I just kept picking up the needles to knit just a little bit more, and before I knew it, all that was left was to knit the thumb.  Thumbs are quick to knit, so I cast on for the second mitten, and then I had to do the cuff before I forgot what I did with the first one…Next thing I know it is past midnight, and I am done!  The picture doesn’t do justice to the colour of the yarn, but I’m thrilled with the results.  I think it’s a record!  On Tuesday this was a bag of fluff.  On Saturday it is a pair of mittens!

Knitting with handspun is interesting, the colour of this pot luck roving does not stay constant, so each mitten changes colour slightly, and the thumbs don’t match.  I like it though….it’s proof that they are hand made, and they are definitely unique.

Now that they are done, I can get on with other important things like doing my dishes!

I have now spun up all 200g of my “Pandora’s Box” roving from the Odessa Fiber Mill.  I had forgotten how lovely it is to spin fiber that is well prepared, and slips lightly through my fingers to make a smooth yarn.  It was rather mesmorizing to watch the bobbin fill up so quickly.

From a distance the yarn appears grey, but from up close, the blended nature shows.  There are flecks of red, blue, yellow, fuschia, and some sparkly threads that run through it.  Although I think it is mostly wool, it is a fine merino, blended with alpaca, and I think there’s some llama there too.

In my mind this is going to turn into mittens and maybe a hat as well, so I chain plied it to make a soft and squishy 3-ply yarn.

Participating (rather poorly I might add) in the Tour De Fleece this year has made me realize that although I do really like spinning, I do NOT really enjoy preparing fleece for spinning.  I’ve been asking around, and found that there’s a fiber mill about 20 minutes from my house, so today I packed up my fleece to see if they could mill it into lovely roving for me to spin.

two bags full

I brought along Maggie, who knits, spins, throws pots, and is generally very crafty.  She’s the one that is making the ball gown from jeans.

The mill is located in the garage of the motel in Odessa Ontario.  We met Janet, who explained how to tell if a fleece is worth milling.  Take a lock of fleece.  Hold it with two hands, and pull lengthwise to stretch the fiber as far as it will go.  If you hear a crackle it’s a fragile fleece (not good).  If you hear a ping sound, then the fiber is strong, and it will make good roving.

Paul, Maggie and Janet with the spinning machine

Apparently you get what you pay for.  My fleeces were all donated to me from various places, and they all crackle when pulled.  Too bad!  It’s not worth it to have them milled, but I can still make something quite useful with them if I can put up with the slow and tedious process of carding.

Paul gave us a tour of the mill.  There’s a picker to get the locks of fleece open and fluffy, another machine to get rid of vegetable matter and guard hairs, a very large and complicated looking drum carder, a spinning machine and a plying machine.  It’s an amazing operation!

roving being spun onto bobbins

The store was next on the tour.  Such gorgeous merchandise, and all produced right there–yarns of all sorts and colours, rovings, woven scarves and blankets, knit socks.  I bought some superwash merino, and some “pandora’s box” (unknown fibers, mostly grey) roving.

the store

What’s best about this store is that you’re encouraged to touch and smell and really enjoy the fiber before you choose what to get.

Maggie with a soy silk moustache

We got talking with Janet about our fiber projects, and the topic of Maggie’s denim dress project was brought up.  This led to Random Freebie #1: 3 Pairs of jeans for Maggie’s ball gown!

Maggie with my purchased roving, and her free jeans

The next stop on our trip was to Wilton Pottery, just down the road.

We met Tim, who explained about his kiln and his process.

If you are in the area stop by to say hello, and have a look at the work that he and his wife Diane are doing.  She grows crystals in the glaze of her porcelain.

such beautiful crystals

We totally lucked into Random Freebie #2:  Zucchini!  I’ve frankly never seen a zucchini this big before in my life.  I’m not exactly sure why Wilton Pottery was giving them away, but it was a very nice treat.

The next stop on our way back to town was in Sydenham at a vegetable and antiques market.  There were lots of treasures to be found in this place, but I think I lucked out when I found sock blockers!

antiques/vegetable market

There’s something nice about taking a drive in the country on a lovely summer day.  You never really know what adventures you’ll run into.  I highly recommend it!

What cottage industries are in your neck of the woods?