Travel on the Horizon

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This week I finished a pair of socks for my husband. I used a pattern from knitty.com called Java Socks from 2011. It took me a few weeks to get them done and during the knitting process I got glasses. I had worn “readers” before but this was my first prescription pair. They are multi-focal so it took me a week or so to get use to them. Halfway through the second sock I realized one of my size 1 needles was actually a size 0 and I had been using it the whole time! No way was I going to start over so I just found my missing size 1 and carried on. There’s a size 0 in the photo–can you see it? (I still can’t!)

The designer of this fine pattern is Cailyn Meyer and you can find her on Ravelry. I was checking out what else she had done and found a pattern called Albuquerque Gloves and I fell in love with it. I don’t really need fingerless gloves so I used the chart and started a hat. Ok where am I going with all of this? Not Albuquerque! Because I can’t go there. My husband and I were going to head to New Mexico for the winter to go rock climbing and exploring but that state has serious travel restrictions so it’s just not feasibly. Looks like will be heading to Arizona instead. Which is actually wonderful because I have never really been there.

When I started up the Fleece Love and Happiness blog again this year it was because I wanted a place to write about my TRAVELS since we are retired and were traveling full-time. Well, covid happened and travel stopped. Even though winter is coming (and virus love winter) we should be safe in our remote camping locations. In about 10 days we will be back on the road. Today I’m packing up yarn and tools for knitting on the road.

Dyeing with Mushrooms

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Fall arrived in Washington State and the mushrooms came out. After buying and reading the book The Rainbow Beneath My Feet: A Mushroom Dyer’s Field Guide by Arleen Bessette and Alen Bessette, I was sprung on the idea of collecting and using mushrooms for dye. My husband and I journeyed out into the woods in mid October and found several kinds of mushrooms to try. Because it was rainy I didn’t want to bring my field guides opting for using my best guess, then picking them to bring home to identify. As it so happened, I was unable to identify most of the mushrooms that I picked. Even with the excellent book Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora I was left without anything concrete to make notes about. I had imagined a system where I’d identify the mushroom, make notes of the mordant, pH, and time spent in the pot. I started recording what I could on scraps of paper but they eventually ended up in the garbage. What I did end up with was several shade of yellow yarn and some dreaded beige. However, I am not discouraged and plan to go mushroom hunting again and try for better identification.

Weaving In Ends

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After designing a sweater using left over yarn to make stripes, I spent HOURS weaving in the ends. I’m writing up the pattern now and for the required skills it will say: know how to knit, purl, and WEAVE IN ENDS… lots of ends. It’s not complicated, just time consuming. Stay tuned for the pattern. It should be up in a couple of weeks.

Not fleece, but lots of love and happiness.

On the “tedious meter” my other hobby ranks higher than knitting. When it come to weaving in ends, loom bead work is tedious. Even with a fantastic magnifying light it’s hard to thread the little needle I use for beading.

To finish the piece, one needs to take each thread and carefully hide and secure it in the piece. I’ve been spending hours doing this. In the end it’s quite satisfying.

Back to the knitting… I’m breaking several of the “weaving in rules” on the left-over sweater. I’m tying knots because the piece is so heavy it will pull a hole into the space I’m trying to close. I’m weaving in as I go because I’m not pulling this sucker out for any reason. Also, I can see what I’m doing better with some of the tails gone. I’m weaving in before blocking. I went with my gut on that one; it just seems like the right thing to do. Sometimes you got to break the rules.

Natural Colored Fleece

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My last spinning project involved blending together all of my natural colored fleece. Cinnamon, gray, and white. I found a simple beanie pattern on Ravelry called Beanie and knitted it for my husband. I love making yarn like this but I usually don’t like the finished objects made with variegated, blended, or self striping yarns. Whether it’s a big project like a sweater or some small mittens the outcome usually looks too “busy” for my taste. None the less, this was a fun, relatively quick, spin and knit project.

Spinning and Prepping

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The natural dark merino has all been spun up into 2 skeins totaling 8.6 ounces. It’s a 2 ply that came out to be 14 w.p.i. Just like my hair, I’m not sure if it’s brown or grey.

I had some of the batt left over so I blended it along with some cinnamon Merino and white Cheviot. These little all-natural beauties are my next spinning project.

I just heard from the governor that I need to stay at home for another month. ANOTHER MONTH!

As Simple as a Country Song

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I have heard more than a few times that “anyone could write a county song”. It’s in the same vein (vain!) as people who think children can paint modern art. “It looks so simple, anyone can do it.” However, simple and beautiful things are not so easily created. I use to actually write country music. Sometimes it was easy. An idea would come to me that was catchy, creative, and new. Essentially that’s the deal–it has to be new– never done before. Trying to design mittens has given me the same feelings. This should be simple (but it isn’t).

I have re-worked the thumb gusset on the stranded mitten about 8 times. It’s time to put it away and not think about it for a while.

The last attempt. Frogged. Yarn packed away.

Now I say goodbye to this mitten project. Chris Stapleton said it best:

We can just go on like this
Say the word, we’ll call it quits
Baby, you can go or you can stay
But I won’t love you either way

How I felt

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Today I realized why I don’t like felting. Most of the time I’m very careful about NOT felting when I’m handling wool. When I’m washing a fleece I limit the agitation and pay attention to the water temperature. So today when I deliberately put a wool item in a hot bath and then a cold bath repeatedly it just felt wrong.

I knitted a pair of Duffers using two strands yarn to make a bulky weight. I had made these over 10 years ago and found the pattern in a file on my computer. It’s a really clever pattern using only 19 rows. After you knit them up you do all the bad things to wool: wash them in a machine, put them in hot and cold water, agitate them, and put them in a dryer. In the end you’ll have a nifty pair of slippers.

This was suppose to be a travel blog with information about knitting and crafting on the road. We spend most of our time traveling. Last year I went to Joshua Tree for a month, back to Washington State. We went to the South West for spring and early summer then back to Washington State for three weddings including our own. Then Argentina for 3 months which took us to the beginning of 2020. The timing worked out well that we arrived at home just as the stay-at-home order went into place.

Now I’m making slippers. Slippers represent staying home.

The Resurrection of Spinning

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First of all, I must say that I am thankful for my health and my life situation in which I can stay at home and not worry about where the next meal is coming from. My husband and I leave the house about once a week to get groceries. My husband, adult children, and their families are healthy. The acquaintances I know that are sick with covid-19 are young and doing quite well at home.

Like so many other people who are home bound, I have an abundance of time on my hands. I indulged in the luxury of ordering supplies online and having them arrive a few days later at my door step. It’s been interesting trying to obtain my materials online. Normally I’d want to feel fabric before buying it. When it comes to a fleece, I’d want to see it, feel it, and smell it. (I once had a Shetland fleece that I couldn’t get the stink out of even after dyeing it, so smell matters.)

Being that I have the time to process and spin yarn right now, I went ahead and ordered a few pounds of Merino. I found an online supplier and read the descriptions of my options. I chose two differed colored fleeces, both with a 4 inch staple length—at least that’s what the description said. I had already washed them and was picking through the first one when I realized the staple length was more like 2 inches with only a few locks being in the 3 inch range. I took a good look at the second fleece and found it to be quite short too. After I double checked the description of my wool – confirmed it said “4 inch staple length” – I emailed the seller. She had a no-return policy but offered to give me some money back or send me more fleece. I opted for more fleece with a 4 inch staple and now I await the package.

It was a joy to take out my drum carder and get to work on this cinnamon colored Merino fleece. My spinning wheel has been in storage for TWO YEARS while I was traveling. Guess what? It was in disarray just like I left it! Sadly, the magic elves didn’t break in and repair everything while I was gone. It has several broken parts, it’s misaligned, and dirty. I’ve ordered the replacement parts – a new drive band and a spring for the tension. Now I’m awaiting that package too.

Basic Toddler Socks

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Free Pattern – Basic Toddler Socks

basic-toddler-socks Download

Staying at home has allowed for plenty of time to finish this pattern. I made several versions of this sock before I got it just the way I want it. My little grand-baby will have plenty of wool socks. I was hoping she could model them for my pattern but alas, I can not see her for a while. If anyone knits these, please post on Ravelry.

When it comes to patterns for socks, there are plenty sized for babies or kids but few are designed just for toddlers. Rather than making big baby socks or small kid socks, I designed a sock just for the little feet of toddlers. Measure your toddler’s foot from heal to toe and pick a size on the chart. You can make them a little longer or shorter as needed, just start the toe decrease ½ inch before the desired length.

The pattern calls for a sock yarn that is about 14 w.p.i. Since you only need a relatively small amount of yarn, this is a good project for remnants. Most people want a washable yarn for their toddler’s socks. However, I wouldn’t hesitate to use handspun yarn as long as the person doing the washing understands how to care for the fiber used. Since the required yardage is so scant this pattern is great for handspun yarn.

The skill level of this pattern is Intermediate. It’s best done by someone who knows how to knit, purl, do simple decreases, and knit in the round with double pointed needles. At the end you have to do a kitchener stitch to close the toe. I think it would work great for someone making their first pair of socks!

Enjoy!

Raffia Basket Weaving

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Travel life has halted. Staying at home has allowed for some time to adventure into some new territory–basket making. I purchased some raffia at a craft store and then I became home-bound and ordered some more on Amazon. One of the mistakes I made right away as a new basket maker was not estimating accurately how much raffia I would need. It’s funny that I bought about 8 oz of pre-dyed raffia and thought I could make about 4 baskets! Ha! The most simple way of estimating how much you’ll need is to weigh a basket and assume you’ll need about that much raffia to make the same size basket. The one pictured here weights about 6 oz.

There’s several good youtube videos about making raffia baskets if you are interested. Mostly I looked at photos and just figured it out. Controlling the shape has been a challenge. The sides want to curl in as I build it up. I’m going to have to keep working at controlling that.