It was a Kureyon Weekend

The four day Holiday Weekend is over; we both took off Thursday. Daughter #1 was over for dinner Friday, #2 Daughter was here on Sunday. We ate, we watched The Music Man, listened to March Music and had a very nice, quiet celebration - except for the time Friday when the helicopters were circling because some kids set the canyon on fire playing with fireworks. (Small fire that was quickly put out - Thank-you Fire Dept!)

My personal celebration was lots of time spent gardening, spinning and knitting. I finished the Primavera Socks. Made from Trekking XXL, color 108


Earlier in the week I finished the Tile Socks from Socks, Socks, Socks made from Louet Gems Sportweight.


These are the first socks I've made in a yarn heavier than fingering weight. I love the socks but living in Southern California I don't know when I'll have occasion to wear them. Maybe I'd better stick to lighter weight yarns in the future.

Started the Ziggy Socks from Knitty.


I'm using Kureyon Sock yarn; sorry but I hate this yarn. As singles, it's all twisty on itself making it impossible to use for a stranded project! This is going to be ripped out. The pattern is fine except for one thing - this toe-up sock starts with Judy's Magical cast-on (this was my first attempt using this particular cast-on) Did I do something wrong, there's a row of garter stitch at the cast-on site (you can just see it in the photo?) I ripped it out twice but always ended up with those garter rows right at the tip of the toe. I like this cast-on method but I suspect I'm doing something backwards. Anyone have some pointers to help me?

Last Tuesday was my day to do the Spinning Demo at the San Diego County Fair.


Members of our spinning class covered this Demonstration over the run of the Fair. I was there on Kids Day so I must have been ask many times, "Where did Sleeping Beauty hurt her finger?" Since I was spinning on an Ashford Traditional there was no spindle to show them. We've discussed next time having an old wheel there that has a spindle, at least on Kids Day.

That Wheel was a single pedal which I'm not use to; by the end of my Demo hour my whole treadling leg hurt. Don't know what I did wrong but I'm sticking to double treadle wheels! I can spin for hours on either of mine with no aches or pains, thank goodness.

Last weekend I dyed this Superwash Merino Roving.


I baked it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 mins and then let it sit to cool to room temperature.

Spinning this is so cool ; I love the way the singles are changing color.


Ravelry let me to Bobby's Blanket. The Hexagon pattern/recipe is posted here. I used some left over Kureyon to give it a try. (6 inch double point for size reference)


I enjoyed making these two hexagons but it's very hard on my hands. I probably won't be making more with worsted weight but I'm wondering if it would be easier with fingering weight? Maybe a use for that Kureyon Sock Yarn?

Under "Small World": Sunday I was reading Laurie's blog Issues with Knitting
where she talks about buying a bag of Kureyon to make Sandy's Sweater in Big Girl Knitting. Well I bought a pile of Kureyon #213 two weeks ago


to make the same sweater. And I too haven't decided on the solid to go with #213. I'd like to use a green but haven't found a green worsted weight I think works with this Kureyon colorway. Hmm, are sweater patterns contagious?

Finally, Annie's poodle foot is growing out. And she's doing fine - never would know she'd been so sick. We're really watching what she eats and
No Table Scraps!

SOS 2008 - Beginning

It was HOT!! here over the weekend! Record breaking Hot! Summer started with a big smack in the face here in Southern California!

I spent most of the weekend on the couch in front of the fan, drinking lots of ice tea, reading and knitting my Tile Sock.


Yeah, you read that right, Sock, as in singular. Summer of Socks 2008 started and this is what I have to show for it. Not a pair of socks which is the intent of the group but I felt I should make an initial post to show I'm participating again this year. I have three other second socks in progress; if you knit one sock in Springtime and the second sock in the Summer do you qualify for a half entry in the cumulative count?

Socks are my traveling and meeting projects; when a pattern needs more attention than I can give in a meeting, I'll start another sock to become the traveling project. Right now I have four socks in progress, usually it's only two; one in a traveling bag and one in the car. I live in fear of getting stuck in traffic, finishing my socks and having to sit there with nothing to do. I don't wait well without knitting to keep me distracted.

My spinning wheel is downstairs in the coolest part of the house so I spent the warmest part of the afternoon down there finishing my Orangecicle batts. This yarn came out very nice


6 ounces/250 yards - enough for a scarf?

Last post I left out this yarn I finish last week.


The fiber, Super Wash Merino Roving, was dyed in a black bag in the sun. The heat build-up in the black plastic sets the dye; no further heat processing is needed. I soaked the fiber in clear water then drained it, layed it out in the bag, sprayed the top side with white vinegar and blobed (does the past tense of "blob" have one B or two?) on five different colors of red, pink and magenta. Tightly closed the bag, left it in the sun for five hours, then went out turned it all over, sprayed vinegar on top, closed up the bag and gave the fiber a very light downward press to help distribute the dye. Left the bag in the sun the rest of that day and three or four hours the next day. Then rinsed and rinsed and rinsed - red is a hard color to rinse clear. Good thing it was superwash or it would have felted with all that rinsing.

I just left the bag outside overnight; afraid it would cause too much mixing if I moved it. Have to say that I would only do this with Super Wash; I'd be afraid of felting with the heat changes during the day. Anyone tried this with plain wool? Did it felt?

My next experiment in sun dyeing will be with blues.

TV Mute Button Confession

I confess, I can't watch live TV without a remote Mute Button! First because the commercials are so much louder than the show - what's new; Second because they play the same few commercials over and over and over. I don't care for commercials, who does but why the same couple of commercials every few minutes? We watch very little live TV with DVDs and DVRs around here so my exposure to commercials is minimal and I'm sick of the same commercials; what about those that regularly watch shows live? How sick are they seeing the same thing over and over? I don't understand the repetition; there are so many commercials out there what do they hope to accomplish showing the same one so often it turns people and TVs off? Anyone know what's going on in the TV advertising world?

Now you know, I watch TV and videos in the evenings while I knit. I'm a big fan of Netflix; with the Writer's Strike I've discovered old TV Series DVDs. How did I miss Buffy and Angel the first time around?

I finished a UFO pair of toddler mittens this last week, only six years from start to finish.


My second thumb shows my knitting has greatly improved over those six years. The purple is Opal Sock Yarn left from a pair of Adult size socks.

I plied the BFL Rapture singles



The picture doesn't show the purple and green true to color. It really is lovely - I especially like the chartreuse strands.

Have you seen the My So Called Scarf pattern?

I using Lorna's Laces, Bullfrogs and Butterflies in the Gold Hill colorway

A very interesting pattern to knit; this isn't mindless knitting. I have to watch it as it's hard to rip back and pick up invisibly. I guess the pattern stitches gives a twist to the yarn that shows in the work. I hoping the slightly visible lines block out.

Playing around online I found that Blue Moon Fiber Arts, the Socks that Rock people, also dye Roving/Top. The called it "Sheep 2 Shoe", love that name! I ordered a bag/ 8.5 oz of Superwash Merino. This stuff is so soft and easy to spin. Their directions suggest you split it into four lengthwise sections and spin a worsted 4 ply yarn. That would be way thicker than any socks I could wear around here so I split the yarn in half lengthwise and am only working on one half of the yarn. Four ounce 2-ply socks are the normal thickness I can get in my shoes.

(What appears gray in there is actually light blue and a medium dark Teal. This is a very nice fiber to work with.)

And I finished the January 2008 Mid-Month Dishcloth Kal on the Yahoo Monthly Dishcloth Group in Peaches & Creme.


When I gave #2 Daughter her Alpaca Chevron Scarf for Christmas #1 Daughter said she wanted one too, in Blue.

This is Misti Alpaca Handpainted.

One evening I was lucky enough to be sitting at my computer when the email arrived notifying me of a Sundara Shop Update. I jumped at the chance to buy this sock yarn - her stuff never lasts long because it is so beautiful. I bought Cobalt over Mediterranean and Caribbean.


The camera's back. The repair page said, "Camera tested within specifications. Replaced optical assembly." What does that mean? Either it worked which usually means it needed no repairs or it's broken and they fixed it. Anyway it was still under warranty from the last repair so all I'm out is the postage to ship it back, twice, to Canon in IL. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. What's your opinion, from the pictures above do you think it's fixed?

Knitting, Knitting and Spinning

Two kinds of knitting today. I did it! Can't knit all the stuff I want fast enough so I've started a Machine Knitting Class. First day Karalyn had us on a machine knitting a water bottle sleeve.

This took about thirty minutes including the hand finishing (sewing up the side seam and weaving in ends.) I'm sure it would have been a third that time if I'd known what I was doing! Even the I-cord was machine made in about 20 seconds! It may be noisy but I can wear ear plugs for the short time it takes to knit something.

Now does anyone know someone that wants to sell an old knitting machine? That's the catch! You just can't walk into a store and buy a new machine. (I'm advised to stay away from the cheap ones you can still buy.) The hunt is on - even though I don't know anything about choosing a good versus junky one.

I'm back to working on my Mystery Stole 3. No pictures, it doesn't look much different than when I posted a picture back in July or August. I'm just about ten rows from starting the wing. And, yes, I am going to do the wing; it looks interesting. I know I said I wasn't but time has changed my mind. If I don't care for it I'm sure I can find someone that will want it.

My current traveling sock is one of the Kaffe Fassett Colors of Regia; (I never know which is the colorway Farbe or Partie?) Farbe 4255 Partie 23636. I like these colors.


I finally finished my gray alpaca/gray romeldale fiber I've been spinning for the past six month! No pictures yet.

All that gray I've been color starved! So I grabbed the brightest fiber I could find and started spinning.
This colorway is fittingly called "Rapture."
100% BFL hand-dyed Vesper Roving by Knitterly Things.

The problem-child camera is back at Canon for repairs. After talking to them it sounds like they only really examine your camera when it comes back for a second time. First time around they just update the software - grrrr makes me so mad!

The photographer had his camera out so I coaxed him to take these pictures. And I got them away from him before he could photoshop them - that's next to impossible. Otherwise you wouldn't see them until next week sometime...