Swatchless

I have taught a lot of people to knit over the years.  I am quite comfortable knitting wherever I am….café, bus, train, desert, felucca, knitters anonymous meetings, waiting at at the dentist….you get the idea.  I usually have knitting with me, so I knit.  It stops me from fidgeting, and I can feel like I’m making good use of my time.

Earlier this week, I headed to the Sleepless Goat Café with Candra and Nicole (who blogs here).  Our plan was not to knit, but to spin.  Spinning in public is not something that you see regularly.

delicious hot chocolate and cranberry scone from the Sleepless Goat

Fortified by hot chocolate, and armed with drop spindles and rovings that Santa brought them for Christmas, these two young ladies were eager to learn a new skill, and I was eager to try my hand at teaching them.

my drop spindle, given to me by my Auntie Meg several years ago

It’s amazing how simple spinning technology can be.  If you are at all interested in creating fantastic, unique yarns, a drop spindle is a tool that you might want to try out.  Wool-Tyme sells them in Kingston.  I’m sure they are also available from many online distributors.  Ask at your local wool store, they may have ideas about where to find them.

The nice thing about using a drop spindle is that it is portable.  all you need is a bit of roving, and you can spin it while you are sitting down, or even standing up!

look at her go!

I haven’t tried bringing my spindle with me to waiting rooms, or on the bus…but I have so much fleece to deal with, I might think about it!  I did take my spindle to camp with me, and in one week I had spun enough fleece to make this unique hat…but that will be another story for another day.

spindle spun wool, dyed with kool-aid and food colouring

After just two hours Nicole and Candra were able to spin fairly consistent singles (one ply), and then they learned to ply them to make a lovely two-ply yarn.  This roving was dyed with kool-aid and food colouring, a rather fun process.  I wonder what they will make from it.

We were quite a sight to see I suppose…not many café tables end up looking like this!  The lovely people at the Sleepless Goat were very interested in what we were doing, and asked us all about knitting and spinning.  I think they are a very fiber friendly establishment!

a bit of a mess!

I have since heard that the big ball of purple roving is almost gone, so I’m going to card some of my big bag of fleece for them.  This is part of my scheme of stash reduction–spread the spinning addiction, and give them all some fleece!

What New Years resolutions did I make last year?  Well….I don’t generally make resolutions, I make plans (sometimes they work, sometimes they get changed, sometimes they get postponed)

This year, after organizing my stash, I have made a decision…I’m going on a yarn fast.  I’m going to knit from my stash as much as possible for the new year.  We’ll see how long that lasts!

Note:  this plan involves me spinning up lots of fleece!

here's just some of my fleece

Wish me luck!

Happy 2010 everyone.

This looks like a very cool stash-busting craft to make. Explanations are on the Sheepy Hollow Farm Journal website

Sheepy Note Cards. Image from Sheepy Hollow Farm Journal

I’ve got lots of fleece. I may try making some of these in the new year. They look SO cute.

Here’s another cute idea from the knitted blog. Knit a square, add buttons, make a card! So many possibilities!

card idea from the knitted blog

Ohhh…these are cute too! Mini sweater and stocking Christmas Cards. Pattern located on the Better Homes and Gardens website.

Image from Better Homes and Gardens

These would be my top three choices for best stationery, if I had time to make them!

I do write letters, but usually I use coloured paper that I decorate with doodles as I write.

It seems like AGES ago that I started blogging about the puffy thrummed mittens I’m making.  This weekend I finished them up, and delivered them to their new owner (who will NEVER have cold hands again!)

Materials:

• Handspun wool from Serbia, dyed brown with chestnuts.  I Love the subtle variations that kettle dying gives this wool.
• Locks of fleece, washed in cold water to preserve some lanolin.
• 4mm DPNs

Pattern:  Improvised.  Here are the basic notes.  (these make LARGE mittens)

Cuff: CO48 sts.  K1P1 ribbing for 20 rows.

Gusset: Begin thrumming, skipping 3 sts and 3 rows between thrums.  Increase 2 sts every 2 rows to 13 gusset sts.  Continue for 1.5 inches plain.

Hand:  Put 13 thumb sts. on holder.  CO 5 sts.  Knit for 4.5 inches.

Decreases:  Decrease 6 sts per row (2 per needle) every 2nd row.

Thumb: Pick up and knit 13 sts from holder, pick up 8 sts for a total of 21 thumb sts.  Thrum knit for 2 in.  Decrease every alternate row.

Care instructions:

Washing:  Mittens wont need to be washed often, but if they DO need it, this is how it’s done…

Hand wash gently Soak in lukewarm soapy water (they are 100% wool and may felt if they are agitated in hot soapy water)

Turn inside out and dry flat (don’t put them in a dryer!)

If the thrums get matted: Turn the mittens inside out, and comb the locks gently to untangle the matted areas. (NOTE: this only works if the mittens are thrummed with locks of fleece.  If they are thrummed with roving, this will destroy the thrums….so be sure before you try it)

Here’s an action shot….they DO look a little like boxing gloves don’t they!

I packed up my spinning supplies and headed to see a friend’s girls this morning (they are the ones that dyed the beautiful roving).  I brought 4 bobbins, a lazy Kate, my one treadle Lendrum spinning wheel, orifice hook, yarn swift, ball winder, niddy noddy, and a great deal of dyed roving.

I gave the girls a lesson on how to spin with the wheel.  It was fun to see their skill develop, and how they got mesmorized by the spinning colours.  By taking turns, they did a good job of spinning, plying, and winding up their new yarn.  They learn so quickly!!

I look forward to seeing what they will make with this!

We’re looking for ideas for projects that beginner knitters could do with small quantities of  bulky “novelty” yarn (100% wool, so it could felt nicely).  Are there any ideas out there?

Look what I’ve been up to this evening!  I spun up some of the roving that the girls dyed last week.  I’m going to visit them again tomorrow for a bit of a spinning lesson, but we wont have time to spin it all then.

I am so impressed by how their colour combinations look when they are all spun up.  I hope to see something fabulous knit from these small skeins.  I’m motivated to try some of my own fiber dyeing sometime soon.

Amazing what can be done with kool-aid!

“What is that, a boxing glove?”

This mitten is looking very absurd.  It is large….VERY large.  I keep looking back at my photos to check that the recipient actually does have big hands.  It is thick and puffy, because it is thrummed with locks of sheep fleece, which eventually should mat down a bit, but right now are VERY puffy indeed. (Thrumming instructions found here)

I did a little knitting on my lunch break today and finished up the fingertips and the thumb.  It really does look like a boxing glove.  I’m sure the recipient won’t mind….I bet he’s tried boxing once or twice before.

I have heard many funny comment while knitting this mitten; the funniest one was “why are you knitting a baked potato?!”

Now that’s a good question!

This morning I packed up my bag of tricks and went to visit a friend and show her daughters, and niece how to use kool-aid to dye wool.  I brought along my drop spindle, and several different kinds of fiber as well.

Contents of the bag of tricks:  drop spindle, silk worm inside cocoon, two kinds of dyed roving, undyed roving, fleece (locks/carded/onion dyed), brown Shetland fleece, laceweight alpaca that I spun, sari silk, kool-aid and food colouring.

We started by guessing what this little white thing was.  (It’s a cocoon with a silk worm inside.  If you shake it, it rattles!)

What a brave girl, holding the silk worm from inside the cocoon.

Then we started to experiment with colours.  I am so impressed by the guts that these girls have, mixing colours together that I would have never tried.  They have such an adventurous spirit, and a drive to experiment.

Using microwave safe materials

Add colours

Microwave until the water in the container is clear, or almost clear.  Look at the beautiful and very different results!

I’m inspired to try some of these and other colour combinations!

creating art will most likely make a bit of a mess

The messy fingers are well worth it.  Look at the gorgeous results!

from left to right: orange/purple, green/blue, blue/orange, blue/purple, red/orange, blue/mango(darker green)

While waiting for the microwave to be free, the girls tried their hand at using the drop spindle.  They are both pretty good at it!  It takes lots of focus to keep the spindle spinning, and the fiber drafted to a reasonable thickness.  Next week we’re going to try to use my spinning wheel to spin some of their beautiful dyed roving.

How to use a drop spindle:

-Attach a leader cord (string) to the spindle, and wind it around, and through the cup hook at the top.

-Hold the string, and twist the spindle in your fingers to get it twirling in a counter clockwise direction (my spindle has sheep on it, so we made the sheep go backwards)

-While the spindle is twisting, attach some pre-drafted (pulled until it is thinner) roving to the string.

-When the twist enters the roving, it makes it strong, and stick together more.

-Pinch the roving with one hand to keep the twist from moving up too fast.  Draft more roving with the other hand.

-Release your pinch, and the twist will move up the roving again.

-When the spindle slows, give it a spin with your hand.

-When the spindle touches the ground, wind the string onto the stick of the spindle, through the hook, and start again.

Thanks for the fun morning girls!  You inspire me.

After dinner today I met up with some fellow knitters at a local (knitting friendly) eatery. The staff were great! They didn’t balk at the three of us sitting down at the table with our hot chocolate, and pulling out our needles, wool and fleece, and settling in for a few hours. I think many patrons got a kick out of our hobby, and some were even brave enough to come over and ask us what we were making.

L-Bo is making a lovely cabled scarf

Barbie G is making a mitten on 2 needles

And me….I’m making the puffy mittens. Did I mention that they are for someone with large hands? Here’s proof!

to compare hand size

When we last left the puffy mittens they were only a cuff. Since then they have grown and developed a thumb gusset, and become considerably more puffy as more fleece was added.

Gusset: K1 P1 K1 P1 K to end of round.

The purl stitches mark the boundary of the thumb gusset. All increases will happen between these two stitches. Increases are made on each side of the thumb gusset every alternate row.

While working the thumb gusset, thrumming must also begin. Fleece is knit into the mitten over 3 stitches, then 3 stitches are knit. The thrumming round is followed by 2 rows of plain knitting.

fleece knit into the mitten (mitten turned inside out)

Thrumming: Step by step

1. Separate a small lock of fleece. With the working yarn held to the right, position the middle of the lock over the right hand needle (the working yarn will then come OVER the lock, and fix it in place when the next stitch is knit.)
2. Knit a stitch (notice how the fleece is now “trapped” by the wool)
3. Put the top of the lock down over the working yarn, and the bottom of the lock up over the working yarn.
4. Knit a stitch (the twisted lock is now trapped in place)
5. With the working yarn to the right, fold the top part of the lock down, and knit.
6. This is what it should look like. The fleece is affixed in such a way that the locks can be combed out without the lock being pulled out of place.

Progress shot of the puffy mitten.

Disclaimer: This is by no means the ONLY way to thrum mittens. I know of two methods, but the person I’m making these for preferred the “hidden thrums”. The other method I know has white flecks (that to some people look like hearts) that show through to the outside of the mitten.

I learned tonight that not everyone approaches a problem the same way. L-Bo watched Barbie G. wind a skein of yarn into a ball, and saw that it took a long time. She decided that instead of winding her yarn, she’d knit straight from the skein! It was working fine for her so far. I’d be tangled up for sure by now! She surely is a fearless knitter!

Park in February

Do you suffer from cold hands?  In Canada, the winter is long, and cold, and dark, and usually snowy so mittens become very important at this time of year.  But, for those very cold days, or for those with VERY cold hands, sometimes regular mittens are not enough.

Thrummed mittens are perfect for days when it is -30 C and you have to be outside, but don’t need a lot of manual dexterity.  What makes them special is that they are lined with sheep fleece that is knit into the mitten itself.  They are puffy mittens, and they are the warmest I’ve come across.  After wearing them for a while my hands got so hot that they steamed!

Several people have asked me to explain how to thrum mittens, and how to knit on 4 needles.  Over the next few days, tune in to see the mittens take shape.  My goal is to finish them before the snow starts to fall.

sidewalk and snowbanks in February

Materials:

• set of four 4mm double pointed needles
• aran weight wool (this wool was spun and dyed with chestnuts in Serbia, and given to me by a friend)
• clean locks of sheep fleece donated by local farmers (I don’t know the breed of sheep)
• waste yarn to hold thumb stitches

Pattern is based on Robin Hansen’s pattern from Fox and Geese and Fences.  I am making a very large size for someone with very large hands, but the pattern and ideas are the same for every hand size.  The trick is to knit them bigger than normal because they will be much thicker due to the fleece.

Cast On: Use your favourite method of casting on.  I cast on 48 stitches using the long tail cast on method.  I find it to be a very elastic way to start a project.  Divide your stitches among 3 needles.

cast on and divide stitches

Cuff: Join in a round, and rib for 2-3 inches.  Use your favourite ribbing.

A little math might be useful here.

• If the cast on number of stitches is divisible by 2 (if it is an even number), you can do K1 P1 ribbing.
• If the number of stitches is divisible by 3 (add up the digits in the number, and if that can be divided by 3, the whole number can be divided by 3) then you can do K2 P1 ribbing.
• If the number can be divisible by 4 (divide it by 2, and if the result is also an even number, then it is divisible by 4), you can do K1 P1 or K2 P2 ribbing.

I chose K1P1 ribbing and knit 15 rows.

So far so good…. next step is to prepare some fleece for the thrumming.

Fleece Information

(left to right) Combed Roving, Carded Fleece, Locks

Fleece comes in different forms.

1. Combed rovings have fibers all aligned in one direction, it is very easy to spin, and nice to felt, but not so good for thrumming since it is hard to divide it into smaller pieces that will hold together inside the mitten.
2. Carded fleece have fibers in all directions.  It is spinnable, but not as easy to spin as the combed fiber.  It is not so good for thrumming because it is hard to separate into small portions.
3. Locks are the least processed of the three.  (You need to wash them yourself usually!)  The fibers are aligned, and the same length.  It is easy to separate into little pieces, and it will stay together inside the mitten.  If you are lucky you can get locks from a local sheep farmer.  I went to see sheep shearing 2 years ago at Topsy Farm and bought half a fleece.  More recently I have found farmers who are trying to give away fleeces….be careful with this, there is often a lot of plant matter involved in free fleeces.

Shearing so fast they are blurry!

Tomorrow I will start the actual thrumming.  Hope you enjoyed my art for the day!