Rest and Renewal

In the last month or so, I've been taking a bit of time to catch up on a variety of projects. I took time off to participate in Spinzilla, I've worked on some around-the-house work that needed doing, I've taken up cross-stitch, and I've been making plans for future projects. I've still been knitting, but it's been a combination of work knitting and just for fun knitting. I had taken a bit of time to tidy and plan with my stashes (spinning, personal knitting, work knitting), and found the need to clear my plate a bit to prepare for some of the future projects that I want to get done.

Spinzilla output: All this spun in a week on a spindle!

The thing about making a hobby into a job is that it's not a hobby anymore, and so I've filled the gap with spinning, and recently cross stitch. I also draw, and I used to garden (I'm planning to go back to gardening in the Spring, so this winter I'm hoping to set aside some time for making those plans), and for quite awhile, it seemed like it was hard to justify taking the time to work on creative pursuits outside of knitting, or, in other words, like I wasn't working hard enough to justify taking time off from work. Adding in spinning helped a little, but it still results in yarn, which I then mentally assign to knitting projects (more work, in a sense). Cross stitch feels more like drawing and painting, but new enough to me that I'm launching in with a bit more enthusiasm and less worry over improving my technique like I do when I draw or paint. I'm new to it, so any work done on it is improving my technique, after all.

Halloween cross stitch. Pattern from Cloudsfactory.

I'm not completely taking time off though, and have been still working on proposals for new knitting work, re-releasing older patterns when the rights revert back to me (like the Bangor Pullover), and also self-publishing some new patterns (like the Braeside Cowl).

Bangor Pullover

Braeside Cowl

Also, I've been doing a bit of knitting for fun! It's been ages since I've made myself a sweater, so I'm treating myself to some time spent knitting Ásta Sóllilja by Kate Davies! This sweater is worked in Ístex Léttlopi, and my parents brought me the light grey wool that is used for the body of the sweater when they returned from a trip to Iceland. I love the colours that Kate Davies picked for the design so much that I was determined to use the same shades for my sweater.

Ásta Sóllilja in progress!

In the meantime, in an effort to get a bit of life back into this sorely neglected blog, I may well toss in a bit of crafty fun from non-knitting projects now and again, hopefully a tad more frequently than of late! Other places to find updates from me include my newsletter (use form off to the right, or follow this link:

http://eepurl.com/czV5l9), Instagram (as @jessiemckitrick), and my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/JessieMcKitrickDesigns/), so please feel free to join me at any or all of those!

Romney Swatch

Back to the Breed Swatchalong with Romney!

First, the sheep (so lovely!):

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Found via Wikipedia.

This swatch took a little longer than the others due to interruptions.

First, I ran out of yarn. As I had spun the yarn, it was a little more work to get some more, as I had to find spinning time before I could try to find knitting time.

Then, I had several work projects on the go, which is good, but doesn't leave as much time for swatching just for fun.

After that, my only excuse is that I kept forgetting to do up the notes, so I'm giving it a go today, though I'm afraid they won't be as thorough as usual!

Here are my initial notes:

Breed: Romney from New Zealand, coloured Romney (listed as light grey, but I’d amend that to nice warm brownish grey).

| Wool Category: “Medium”

| Brand (if applicable): my handspun from sliver bought from A Curious Spin.

| Form (fleece, fibre, yarn): Sliver; spun semi-worsted

| Preparation (if known): Sliver, woollen prep

Feel: slides nicely through the fingers, and, while not my most consistent spin, is decently even on average. Not precisely soft, but I keep using the word “nice” to describe it; I like it rather a lot.

Cast on: 58 sts, working in a 2x2 Garter rib

Today's notes:

The swatch was a pleasing pattern, but I maybe could have gone up a needle size for better drape. Road-test wise, I could see the spot where I switched yarn batches a little more clearly after the second wash, but that's more to do with my spinning than any inherent properties of the wool itself. I did find this one mostly too itchy for next to skin in more sensitive areas (so, not really for scarves or for garments without an undershirt), but it wore well, and feels nice enough on the hands anyhow. I'd be inclined to use it for hats, outer layers, maybe a nice bag, mittens. Nice stitch definition, and I enjoyed spinning and knitting it.

15 Minutes

Being the first Monday after springing the clocks forward, it was rather difficult getting the kids up and going to school today. I often feel as though, the moment I get back home to my quiet office that the best way to start the day would be to have a coffee break, and today more so than usual. Unfortunately, as nice as this coffee break is, it invariably results in procrastination.

Today, instead of starting with a coffee break, I started with a spinning break.

I do some of my best thinking while spinning (or while running, but I can't do that now with my sprained/slightly dislocated ankle; can't wait until I can run again!), and I found that I've been worrying a lot lately about the things I have left slide lately in order to keep up with work. Sewing, housework, crafts-other-than-knitting, knitting for family members (I keep this down to just a few things, but I'm not even getting these done lately), knitting for myself, and definitely blogging, which it's easy to spot has not been happening here lately at all.

I  realized, during my 15 minute spinning break, that there is no reason I can't do several of these things as 15 minute breaks. Sure, I can still take a coffee break too, but if I can alleviate some stress and worry by taking an extra 15 minutes to work on two or more of those things each day, then it's more than worth it. Working for 15 minutes on a blog post each day (whether it gets published same day or not doesn't much matter; it's just putting the time in), then I'll at least have the occasional post, which is much better than the none that has been going on lately.

Featured spinning: Ashford Silk Merino blend, in Salvia.

Whittling Down the List

Oh goodness, is it Friday already? I know I promised a Swatchalong post, but it'll have to wait until Monday now. Of course, at least then I can get some notes together and put the swatch through the test drive, so that's something anyhow. In the meantime, here's a photo of the Dorset swatch:

I've been getting together a gift for a Christmas party that I'm off to tomorrow, and I'm on the finishing touches on almost all the woolly gifts (there's one that is just over half finished; hopefully it is ready for finishing touches by the end of today)! Also, I have picked up a commission to write up a pattern (yes, taking on work over December; madness...), but I'm nearly ready to cast on the sample, so that's exciting (for me anyway; can't tell you a thing about it other than what I've already told you). Anyhow, I am slowly but surely whittling down the list; progress is steady at least.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Pinkety Pink Pink

I started a project in October that I've been meaning to share this whole time, but I've been having a hard time finding the energy for blogging lately. I usually do find a bit in December because there are, despite so many secret projects, so many things to share, but rather than simply launching into Christmas, I thought I'd share the finished October to December project first.

Rather spontaneously, (and entirely forgetting that I'd wanted to buy a second batch of Stroll roving before dying it so that I could have more yarn in the end), I decided to play with some pink.

I prepared the roving by soaking it in a vinegar solution (I can't remember how much vinegar, but a moderate amount, anyhow).

Next, I prepared the dye by adding a good dollop to hot water and very slowly adding a little bit of vinegar (the second time. The first time I sorted out that I wasn't adding it quite slowly enough, as the dye broke, and that wasn't the plan). 

I added the dye to a series of bowls as evenly as I could. I wanted pink and white stripes, so I left a fair bit of space in-between.

After the dye was soaked up, I wrapped the whole thing in plastic wrap (which I try not to use very often otherwise), put it in a crock-pot, and heated it in the microwave.

I rinsed it, and was pleased that there was little to no bleeding, and that the colours had mostly stayed put in their stripes, though I didn't mind the bit of mottling here and there.

I took my time spinning it up; it was entertaining contrasting it with the more rustic wools I was spinning at the same time on the other spindle, as this stuff feels much like spinning a rather springy bit of fluffy cloud.

Chain-plied and after a bath, here is the resulting yarn! There will be stripes in whatever on earth I make with this. It's all very satisfying, and also feels nice to tie something up before everything gets crazy-busy.

Lincoln Swatch Part 2

Here's my completed Lincoln swatch!

The resulting yarn is creamy-coloured, fuzzy, and drapey. Some areas are over-plied, and don’t feel as nice to wind or knit with, but most of it is quite pleasant to the touch.While it’s softer than I would expect for what I had read of Lincoln, it is definitely not baby-soft. Washing definitely increased the halo on this swatch, and it already had quite a bit. I wore the swatch in three places over three days. I found that I barely noticed it at all pinned into the waistband of my jeans or in the leg of my jeans/inside my sock. I noticed it a fair bit more inside my sleeve, where it prickled occasionally. I didn’t notice much change to the swatch at all.

After another wash, I wore the swatch pinned inside my shirt at my side all day, where the prickle did call itself to my attention fairly often, but was mostly tolerable most of the time. It helped that it was just on the one side; I don’t think I’d have found it as tolerable in a full top worn next-to-skin. Despite all the fuzziness, there is still a bit of the lustre showing, but less than there would be with a worsted prep and longer staple.

Throughout the process, the swatch has not changed much except for the increased halo. No signs of pilling so far. The swatch is drapey, sturdy, and, while softer than I would have thought, not quite what I would want for next-to skin use. Someone with less sensitive skin would likely be fine for a number of uses. I am inclined to consider this yarn not-quite typical for Lincoln, based on my reading, so would be interested in trying Lincoln from other sources to compare.

I think this yarn would hold up quite decently over time. I’d be inclined towards using it mainly for outerwear (coats and cardigans) if spun to a heavier weight, or lighter layers as it is. Could be used for next-to-skin in less sensitive areas by those with a higher tolerance for prickliness than myself.

Lincoln Swatch Part 1

Next up in my contributions to the KnitBritish Breed Swatchalong is a bit of Lincoln I've spun up!

Lincolns are big sheep that grow long & heavy fleeces. The wool is strong and lustrous, and ranges 33.5-41 microns, with a staple length of 7-15 inches. The roving I started with seems to me to have a staple length at the lower end, and came in the form of a long, flattened ribbon. I can't determine for sure where this Lincoln was from, so I will just guess that it is from outside of Britain.

At any rate, it's rather lustrous, and at once quite fluffy. While spinning, I found this Lincoln to be softer than I would have thought it would be from what I had read. It's not so much that I was spinning a slubby yarn on purpose as I had made the conscious decision not to fight it the whole way. Let it be slubby if it wants to, right? There was lots of back spinning on the spindle besides! When plying, it behaved quite well, and seemed to get to a comfortable amount of twist without me having to second-guess myself too often. That being said, while knitting, I have found a few spots with too much twist; I would try to ply with a bit less twist in future.

I'd describe the resulting yarn as drapey, nice enough to touch in that it felt pretty soft and smooth running through my fingers when winding it, and it didn't prickle worn in a skein around my neck (yes, it's the thing to do when you're particularly delighted with yarn you've made; just wear it around like a necklace for a bit). It's somewhat dense, and definitely rather inelastic. It ended up looking rather more even than I had thought it might (the magic of plying!), but it still has a bumpy, textured look. It came up at about 17 wraps per inch, but it might be more like 15 in some places.

There's a fair bit of halo, so when I cast 50 stitches onto my 3.25mm needles, I figured I'd best stick with stockinette bordered with garter stitch; we'll see how it goes then!

Swatchalong: Manx Loaghtan Part 1

I was going to start off on the Knit British Breed Swatchalong with some Romney handspun, and so I did, only I ran out of yarn. I don't have any more of the fibre to spin, so this Romney swatch is going on the backburner until I sort out ordering some more (and then spinning it; hopefully close enough to the same specs).

I'm moving on to Manx Loaghtan instead for my first swatch.

By Acad Ronin (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Manx Loaghtan are noted for having multiple horns (as many as six), and having a range of lovely brown colours. As the name suggests, they are from the Isle of Man, and are a rare breed that gets used for conservation grazing (their grazing benefits bird populations, specifically the Chough). For more on the sheep itself, here's a link to their sheep breeder's group.

As far as the fleece is concerned, the staple length and micron counts listed in The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook (Robson & Ekarius) are: 2.5-5" (6.5-12.5cm) and an average of 27 microns. My particular bit of wool was given to me by a friend in roving form to sample from her own stash. I had spun this up in January, and wrote on the blog about it here. Having more spinning experience now (though still pretty limited), I'd probably describe the wool as somewhere between Corriedale and Shetland, though really, it's entirely it's own thing.

The yarn is nice and springy, and as even as I could hope for it to be considering I had been spinning for less than a year when I had spun it. I remember enjoying spinning this yarn, and I had spun it more-or-less worsted style on my drop spindle. The colour is lovely; this morning I decided it's a heathered milk chocolate. The skein had a nice squoosh to it, and was nice to wind up. It's not as I should say exactly soft, but it's not not soft; I'd say probably soft enough for next-to-skin, but we'll see how the test drive of the swatch goes for that.

So far, the swatch is coming along nicely. I've decided on a stockinette and garter stripe for stitch pattern, and am using 3.25mm needles. The yarn measured 14 wraps-per-inch, so it's basically a fingering weight. It's not that drapey at present (going up a needle size could fix that), but I like the fabric, and think it will drape a touch more when washed. We'll just have to see.

In Which Shiny things are Finished, and New Projects Beckon

On the weekend, I finished up the socks! (Yay!) Between a meeting, a school field trip, and a camping weekend with the extended family, the rest of the sock seemed to take no time at all. (Double yay!)

The new owner seems pleased. I've cast-on her mittens, but they're only on the third row of ribbing, so they are not very exciting just yet.

Another thing I did on the weekend was to practice lucet-braiding to make new bootlaces (the old ones were falling apart, and one was already greatly reduced). I finished one on the drive out, and the other while visiting around the campfire.

I used some Regia Flusi das Sockenmonster in the Susi colourway. I had only bought one ball each of this yarn, and it turns out the kids find it scratchy anyhow, so I enjoyed using the yarn to add a bit of brightness to my boots.

I have a couple of new things to show off in October sometime, and am working on another thing in the meantime, but there is a project I can share that I will be joining-in on. I'm quite excited about my plans to participate in the Knit British swatch-along!



Now, swatches are wonderful things. For knitting, they help you to ensure that you will end up with the size you have planned on making, and, if you're substituting, they can help you sort out if you've picked a compatible yarn. For designing, they are the basis of all your math, give you a space to try a few things out if you're testing an idea, and can help you sort out if you've picked the right sort of yarn for the project type, stitch pattern, general look, structure, etc.

Another use for swatches though is to get to know a fibre better in general. There are so many sheep breeds (and so little time to spin and knit them!), and they are so very different from each other in how they feel and behave. Getting to know different wools allows for a better understanding of just what is available out there.

I will mostly be using this as a spinning exercise on top of a swatching exercise, and will be using both British and locally sourced wools that are from British sheep breeds (including a few breeds that originated elsewhere, but that are now popular in Britain). This is a great chance to use the small bits of sample spinning I have done or have been planning to do, and I'm jumping right in. I'll be blogging my progress on the various swatch projects, and will include notes to explain some of the spinning jargon I've slipped into using of late (with the disclaimer that I'm very much a beginner still and that I have a limited understanding of quite a few areas of spinning as a result).

My current list of fibre to try is: Manx Loughtan, Masham, Wensleydale, Romney, Shetland, Lincoln and Gotland, some Blue-Faced Leicester (already in yarn form, courtesy of West Yorkshire Spinners), and with Dorset, Cotswold, and more Wensleydale (I have an idea) on the way via A Curious Spin!

Cast-on for the Swatch-along is October 5th (though I'll be spinning for it in the meantime as well), and if you're interested in joining-in, the Knit British group on Ravelry is a fun and lively place to do so!

Skeins: Top is Blue-Faced Leicester, below is Manx Loughtan. Balls, L-R: Romney singles x2, Shetland in assorted colours x 5, and Wensleydale.

Sixth Sock Syndrome

In May 2014, I started to knit neon socks for my nephew and my two daughters. I finished the first set (nephew) in July of that year, the second pair, for my youngest, in February of this year, and am half-way through the second of my eldest's socks, having turned the heel and picked up the gusset stitches last night.

(I'm apparently enough used to pattern writing at the moment that I have to remind myself not to use pattern abbreviations in my blog; I nearly wrote "pu gusset sts")

Now, being bored of the pattern and not wanting to knit the second sock in a set (or at least, not as much as wanting to knit the first sock in another set) is common enough to be referred to as Second Sock Syndrome, but this is now the sixth sock in the same pattern. I'm wishing now that I hadn't left the largest size for last. At least there is one change, and that's the contrasting colour. We were running out of green, so I suggested a few options, and my daughter went with just switching to pink for the second colour for the second sock.

The colours really are at least as bright as they show up in the photos too!

What I'd really like to get working on is the mittens that my eldest picked out (the pattern that she wants is Tiny Dogs Mittens, which feature Chihuahuas), and as it's getting slightly chilly, I'd best get on with it. However, the needles I need are currently occupied with the sock, so I'm suddenly very interested in finishing this sock by the end of the weekend (work projects allowing).

Spinning-wise, I've finished up the 'Chaos Theory' Polwarth roving from Sea Turtle Design!

I enjoyed trying out chain plying, and managed to only snap my singles once while I was trying to fix a stray loop that got away from me. My yarn came out at approximately sport weight, and there's probably around 240 metres of it. After a bit of browsing, I've queued up the Reeds and Rushes Cowl, as I think it will do nicely for showing off the yarn with a little bit of added texture. No rush to get started though; I'm enjoying having the yarn hanging around the living room where I can admire it in the meantime.

Order from Chaos

I've been trying to get myself to write a post all through August, but just couldn't bring myself to do so. It's not that I'm not enjoying blogging, but rather that I was just way too overtired to even think about trying to sum up, condense, or explain anything.

In short, I needed a vacation, so I took one. I have quite a few blog post plans that have piled up throughout this time, some of which I will get around to, some of which I won't, but in the meantime, on the kids' first day back at school (they had an extra week of summer this year, and believe me, we have all been ready for a return to routine by the start of that week, particularly the kids, who were ready lightning-quick this morning and pulling me out the door on the way to school), I'm just going to try getting back into the swing of things with a quick post about a current project that I love.

I'm really enjoying spinning this Polwarth (seen below on the dash of my mom's car) that I bought from The Loop at Kensington in Calgary. The top is dyed by Sea Turtle Design, a local dyer. I was going to buy one of the more sedate colourways, thinking that I probably wouldn't wear anything made with this one, but hey, it's not all about the wearing, (and if nothing else the kids like bright colours); in fact, it's rather more about the spinning, and why not give it a whirl? The colourway is called “Chaos Theory,” but is perfectly well-planned.

The creamy white sections are doing a great deal to tone-down the brightness, and they are also helping to reduce any muddying of the colours. Sometimes the colours are blending, but mostly, I've got a barber-pole style effect going on.

The general consensus at my Friday knitting group (not that I'm there every Friday, much as I'd like to be) is that chain-plying will be the way to go with this, and I quite agree. The colours gradually transition (on average, because there still are dashes of mixed areas throughout) from green to blue to purple, to red to, well, I'm not quite there yet, but it looks like it finishes up on orange so far, with a bit of blue and/or purple and/or green in-between. Chain-plying would be the best way to keep this effect intact, so I'm going to try to learn it.

So far, I've enjoyed this set of instructions, largely because of how I really, really dislike trying to learn from videos (works great for so many people, but just not my cup of tea). I had read about the technique before in Abby Franquemont's Respect the Spindle, but it's great to have a quick refresher that suits my learning style just a quick link away.

I might spin up a quick sample to practice on, but we'll see if I'm actually that patient. As it is, I need to free up my plying spindle first, and I'm maybe half-way through that batch of plying.

I can't explain just how lovely this fibre feels, but you can see the fine crimp if you hold it up at eye level while drafting, you can feel an elastic spring to it, and it drafts and spins rather effortlessly. Also, I have trouble putting it down because I just want to see what this next bit looks like. And this next bit. Oh look, there's a new colour coming up next....

Getting Around to Things

I've been having a bit of trouble sleeping of late (nothing major, just can't settle, it seems), so I thought, since I was up anyway, perhaps I could make a bit of a push to finish knitting up my Firth Waves Cushion.

I have one repeat to go now, but I'm running low on one colour. There's no problems with the pattern here; it calls for two balls of the yarn for that one, and I only had one in my stash. There's nearly enough, but not quite, so I went to order more, and I'll be waiting now for when it is back in stock. Luckily, there's no rush to finish it up really, so it's just been put aside once again for a little while.

In the meantime, I plied up those singles of my new batt from the Curious Spin Batt Buffet, and I now have something that rather reminds me of marshmallows, both in lovely puffiness and colour.

It's meant to coordinate with the Creamsicle batt that I had previously spun up so that they can play together in an eventual knitting project, and I think it works nicely. I might just go with a third batt to round them out though.

I'm also halfway through spinning up the singles from the BFL that I picked up at Celeigh Wool. The colours remind me of various shades of blue jeans. This is a delightful, relaxed spin with no particular project in mind just yet.

I'd finished spinning my blue silk singles ages ago, but yesterday, I finally decided to get around to winding off some plying balls so I could start plying. Unfortunately, the singles snapped in a couple of places. If it had been wool, I would have spliced it, but as it was, I ended up with four batches of plying balls (two of which were quite, quite small, but the other two of decent size). Also, there's another wee ball of singles that I'm ignoring for now.





I found a silver lining in that though. Since it's my first time working with silk, I wasn't entirely sure just how much twist there should be in the ply. It had been suggested, in some of my reading, that the answer is quite a lot. But, it's hard to remain confident when your plied work twists itself and looks like this after winding it off:

After a bath though, they're well-behaved, so it was nice to be able to test the two smaller lengths before plying the rest.

Today, we're off to pick raspberries, but later, I want to swatch a couple of things. Here's the current plan for the non-work-related one: