Finding Joy

I'm massively into self-imposed goals and imaginary points (hence Stash Dash every summer), and this year I've embarked on two different projects as a way to challenge myself and earn real and imaginary points. I'm doing a gnome a month for the Imagined Landscapes Year of Gnomes; here was January's entry:

I'm also participating in Eat.Sleep.Knit's yarnathone. I've had fun looking for creative ways to earn badges and finding a way to connect a bit on some of their forums. Earning store credit and goodies for knitting and ordering yarn? Sign me up! I just wish I lived in Georgia so I could actually hang out at the store, as they seem like awesome people. Their customer service is outstanding, and I'm blown away by the amount of work they go to running the Yarnathon. I'm well into the first quarter's KAL--brioche, which has been a fun way to try a few different things. Brioche decreases have not historically been my friend, so here's hoping I can master them this time!

Snapshots

It's both hard to believe and a relief that summer break is soon to be over. Of course I'm enjoying the slower days, having time to inhale books (I read both the second and the third Stormlight Archive books by Brandon Sanderson in a month each--they are well over 1,000 pages of awesomeness!), to tackle fiddly project, and to start brewing my own kombucha, I'm also looking forward to being with my co-workers and students again. While I'm sure the fall will have lots of challenges and frustrations, it's about time to change gears a bit. So, here are the crafting snapshots from my summer-

My new summer top--I love it!

A beautifully cabled gnome for a friend's new house.

I made bias tape for the first time--why did it take me so long to try this?

The reason I tried my hand at bias tape, was so I could use it on this vinyl bag project, using a Chickenboots pattern from SewSewLive.

While at my grandmother's memorial earlier this month I bought this yarn which reminded me of her from her local yarn store, and made it into this cowl. I'm looking forward to the cold weather so I can start rocking it!

I'm going to be going on another trip next week, on which I will finally get to meet my niece, so I decided on a whim to make her this elephant toy that's been sitting in my Ravelry queue for years. It's all in one piece which is quite clever, but I think when I make it again I'm going to place the ears better.

I continue to work on my huge double weaving project. Here is what things look like currently on my loom-

And here is the finished first half of the ruana. I haven't washed the fabric yet; I'm hoping the super obvious tight spot down the fold line will relax out. The second half has been fighting me after a great start; best I can figure I did a bad job of packing the warp, so after some desperate intervention tonight hopefully things will go more smoothly until I get the weaving finished.

Parting shot--my super talented sister took this amazing picture of me using long exposure when we were together for the memorial. It's good to remember that there is more to life than the challenges of 2020!

Doubling down

Over the last two weeks I’ve been working on a self-imposed program of professional development which includes reading for my classes next school year, reading about the classical philosophy of education, and working through courses on classical pedagogy and subjects. Thus far I’ve met the goals I set for myself, which is encouraging both in the information I’m enjoying, but also having a way to structure my days. This week the ACCS virtual conference is happening, so I’m setting less lofty goals for myself in the first three days of this week. Our graduation ceremony is also at the end of this week, and I’m looking forward to seeing colleagues and students again.

In addition to all the reading and thinking I’ve been doing over the last few weeks, I’ve also been really enjoying the challenges of learning how to get the best results out of my rigid heddle loom. I experimented with doubling the warp for cotton dishtowels to see if it would give me a better fabric. I planed to make two towels—one with a single strand of weft and one with it doubled. Warping the loom took much longer, but I was quite pleased with the results as I wove the first, single weft towel. Only, due to a terrible error in basic math I made it about twice as long as I had planned, so I only had a little warp left to experiment with the doubled weft. Doing the doubled weft was extremely tedious, as in order for it to look good both strands have to be lying flat beside each other, which requires lots of fiddly about on the weaver’s part. I’ve got the fringe noted on these two pieces and just need to wash them to see the final results, but I think double warping and single weft will be a good option going forward. I’ll just do better math next time!

The other big challenge I set myself was learning how to double weave—to weave a folded piece of cloth so I could make something twice as wide as my loom.

Getting the loom double warped and threaded was pretty involved, and I actually ended up doing the threading twice because I discovered some significant issues once I started weaving and had to pull it all out.

However, all that work on the front end (and having to buy a second heddle) is totally going to pay off with only having one seam instead of three, and only having to match two woven piece instead of four. I’m working on a ruana using some very deep stash laceweight that I think will make an excellent work wrap for my sister, and then I plan to make myself one too. I love the colors, I love learning this challenging technique, and I’m excited to see what the finished product looks like. Today I laboriously hem stitched the edges using a ruler to make sure I didn’t sew them together, and then I can carry on with the weaving.

Part of the reason I know that the double weaving will pay off so well in the finishing is because I got the destash yarn I ordered from a lady of Ravelry, and finished the third panel of the woven baby blanket. It took waaaaay longer than I had thought it would to seam the three pieces together—probably in part because I was using three different colors of yarn for each seam, but also because I was having to do a bit of easing as I went. Now I’m working on a twisted fringe, as I want this to be super easy care.

The fringe is also taking forever, but I think the end results will be totally worth it. I’m looking forward to sending it on its way! I have a coworker who’s wife is expecting, and I’m debating about weaving them a blanket as well. My niece is pretty well provided for in that area, but I might weave her one too. We’ll have to see how long these double woven ruanas take me!

While I’ve been spending quite a lot of time weaving, I’ve also been plugging away on my pink summer top. It’s at my waist now, so it looks like a) I won’t need quite as much yarn as I thought and b) I should be able to get this finished this month. I think I’m really going to like it, though there is of course the fact that I’ll only be wearing it in certain air conditioned situations! Oh the joys of living in the blast furnace of the south...

Well, I have a book report to finish, and it's not writing itself. Here's to another week of learning and making!

Making and learning through the turmoil

Once my school year ended, I gave myself a week of vacation (which coincided nicely with my birthday week) before jumping in to the professional development I’d planned to work on this summer. That includes reading, online classes, and later this month an online seminar. I also need to go through materials and unit plans for next year, but I think I’m going to do that in either July or August. In between all that I have of course been making, but also doing a lot of praying and taking some steps to educate myself in the wake of the protests and Black Lives Matter movement. So far protests in my little Texas town have been peaceful—which is encouraging, and I pray that these days of turmoil will lead to an anti-racist tomorrow.

In the midst of all that I have been working on my summer top (nothing exciting in the progress), a little on my Ink cardigan, and quite a bit on my Trekkie socks, as I’ve had need for some mindless knitting. I finished the first one today, and when I had a triumphant finished fitting, I realized that a) the heel decreases weren’t quite where I expected them, and b) I had never made myself a plain sock with a short row heel and my integrated gusset. I wonder if I’d be more satisfied with doing a 60% heel… It’s not like I don’t like the heel--the fit of the sock was lovely; it’s just not what I was expecting. The second one is started, as I still need a brainless knitting project.

I’ve been doing a lot of weaving and a lot of learning about weaving these last two weeks as well. I wove two panels for what I hoped would be a ruana, but found that they were rather narrow. So, I found someone destashing the discontinued yarn on Ravelry, and I’m hoping I can get the yarn soon so I can weave two more panels to widen this to usable size. Knowing that, I’ve also ordered a second 12 dent heddle, so I can play around with some double weaving, and have a bit less seaming to do with my next two planned ruanas.

I’m also working on weaving a baby blanket for a friend. I’ve planned the blanket to be in three panels, and two of them are done. I ran out of the black yarn, so I’m waiting for another destash skein to makes it’s way to me so I can finish. I was quite pleased by how I matched the panels, and hope the third one comes out as well.

And, the other big experiment from last week, was using crochet cotton to weave tea towels. I reduced a pattern I found online, and while I learned a lot and will be able to use the finished (slightly wobbly) objects, the fabric is much more open than I had hoped. The mercerized cotton gives an interesting texture; it wouldn’t be for drying dishes, but as a liner for a bread basket will probably work quite well. I’m trying again, this time doubling the warp, and then doing one towel with one strand in the weft, and another with two so I can do some more comparing. At the very least, I’ve been getting some valuable experience working with fine gauge cotton, and will be much better able to use the ‘real’ stuff when I buy some. Here are the finished towels-

Neko spent a week where he couldn't keep food down, but after a trip to the vet and some anti-nausea pills (not sure who was more traumatized by the process of administering them--him or me!) I’ve got a little floof feeling much better, who likes to be a part of my reading from time to time. I’m continuing my challenge to myself to make at least one new recipe a week, and I’m also continuing my morning walks in the gardens near my house. The gym has opened back up again, but I’m not sure I’m quite ready to head back yet. It’s so hard to know what the most wise courses of action are these days…

Parting shot: I love how tidy a freshly warped loom looks!

Summer break has now begun!

Whew--the 2019-2020 school year is over! Reports are written, books are put away, and I'm allowing myself this week to rest before starting on my summer projects. Over the course of the last week I worked on various projects while I was also finishing up my school work. I worked on some dishcloths as a going away gift for my headmaster and his wife. I'm so sorry to see them go!

And I made a few masks for someone else.

Most of my crafting time was spent with my new loom--I love it so much! I have some super deep stash laceweight that I thought would weave up nicely, so first I tried one set of swatches with some leftovers in another colorway and some sock yarn to see how it wove up with that warp,

and then I did three different warps so I could get a lot of information from two swatches. I wanted to see how the shawl would weave up with either cotton or the wool laceweight as warp, and I wanted to see what kind of fabric the crochet cotton would make because I'd like to make some dishtowels next. Crochet cotton is significantly cheaper than weaving cotton, so I'm hoping I can make it work. I need to do a drying test with the swatch, but overall I'm pretty happy with the fabric.

I decided I liked the plaid look of the wool laceweight, so on Friday I warped up the loom (which takes a loooong time when you're using such fine yarn), and have been happily working on what will be either a scarf or wrap, depending on how this comes out. Lots of yardage--just in time for Stash Dash! The blue ribbon on the side is to help me measure the length of my pieces, as I'm hoping to make an identical second one. However, that kind of depends on how the yardage works out...

The other big project I accomplished last week was to bake a baumkuchen, a German tree cake which is broiled layer by layer. I had been intrigued by the concept since first seeing it on The Great British Baking Show, then on the German Nailed It. I decided that I wanted it to be my birthday cake, and since I was officially done with work Friday morning, it seemed like a great time to try this labor intensive cake. First, I made my own almond paste as I didn't realize you could get it at Wal-Mart.

Then, I used this recipe, but increased it by 20% to fit into the larger springform pan I had. A burned first layer and 21 successful layers later, I had this delightful cake to share with my family this weekend. Well worth the effort, but I don't think I'll make another anytime soon! This cake's flavor improves with age; more of the almond came through the second night.

So that's what I've been up to! I've got a summer top, sweater, some spinning, and a few weaving projects I'm hoping to finish to make my Stash Dash goal of 5k, and I've got plenty of reading, sorting, and planning to do for next school year. I'm looking forward to more relaxing days, and some more free time to create; if only the hot weather could hold off a little longer!

Quaranteaching and quarancrafting

This week is the last week of my school year, and I have some test reviews to do, two tests to give and grade, report card comments, a day on campus to deal with resource returns, and a final distance staff meeting. However, the test is on Tuesday, so my schedule is starting to look quite a bit lighter. Distance learning has been an interesting challenge; I missed my students a lot, I missed my coworkers, and I missed my routines, but I’ve been working on creating new markers and things to look forward to in my weeks. This summer I have quite a bit of professional development I want to work through, as well as tackling the filing of a bunch of resources that I have been putting off. The ACCS conference is going to be online, so I plan to ‘attend’ that and get some more ideas and inspiration for next year.

In addition to work, I’ve also been working on several fiber projects! I finished a pair of socks for my sister-on-law that were originally meant to be a Christmas present, but ended up being a Mother’s Day gift. I adapted the heel on the Jaywalker sock; I quite like how it turned out and would consider doing that again, but this time I’ll take notes!

I started my long anticipated Ink cardigan last spring and promptly lost steam on the collar, so I dug it out and I’m about halfway to the dividing for the arms and body point. I LOVE how this is knitting up, and plan to have it done for this fall/winter, as I need another layering piece for work. I love the cable, I love the yarn, and I’m super excited about having the finish garment. Plus, as a sweater in fingering weight it will be quite wearable.

The other garment I’m currently working on is a summer top, Vanora. I decided that rather than knit it in two pieces, I would seam the shoulders and join in the round after the underarms. Now that I’ve done that, the next exciting bit is going to be when I get to the hem…in several inches. So, until then, it’s half a row of lace and half a row of stockinette. I’m using the Lion Brand Coboo yarn that I made my tank out of last year; it’s a sport weigh cotton/bamboo blend which drapes nicely, and is cool enough for a Texas summer. I’m looking forward to having this done and being able to enjoy it! This is a picture of the back lace pattern.

Since I had only one pair of movie socks hibernating (not like I’ve had the chance to go see a movie in the last few months!), and since I’ve been watching my way through Star Trek’s the Next Generation, I decided the time had come to cast on my Trekkie yarn in an easy, vanilla sock pattern. I think I’m going to do an afterthought heel with forethought gusset; I’ve got a little more time before I need to make the final decision. I’m getting the itch to do a more patterned sock soon, but I figured with a cable and a lace project, a vanilla sock would round out my WIPs nicely.

Since I last posted I have finished the delightful yarn from my birthday fiber from last year, and I’m dreaming about what to knit with it. I plied this on my wheel; I have improved as a spinner dramatically, and I’m quite pleased with how this turned out.

Not only did I finish that project, but I tested out the Andean plying technique on a little oddment of fiber with pleasing results.

Now I’m working on spinning up an indigo dyed batt from my good friend Rebekah, and I’m still trying to decide it if I want to try chain plying it on the wheel, or make it a two ply. It’s coming out super fine so I’m inclined to chain ply it, but I have some time to keep deciding what I want to do with it. Stash Dash is coming up, and I’m hoping to reach 5k again!

Lastly, I decided to treat myself to a life-long dream, but ordering a Schacht Cricket rigid heddle loom. I got the 15” size as it seemed like the most versatile starting point, and it arrived on Friday. It was super easy to assemble, and I had it warped in no time. I learned quite a bit from that first project; I ran out of yarn so the one end is rather purple, but it was well worth it for the learning process.

I’m currently working on a set of four cowls out of early, very lump handspun, which is turning out to be all I hoped. I continue to learn; I got my warp centered properly this time, but still need to work on my warping calculations a bit. After this set of cowls is off the loom, I’m going to put in my finer heddle and work with some laceweight that has been sitting in my stash for over a decade. I also have ambitions for dishtowel weaving this summer, so stay tuned!

Parting shot: If my knitting is on the floor being photographed, that *obviously* means I want Neko to come sniff/lie on it, right?

Yarn makes most things better...making it, using it, or buying it!

Can you believe how beautiful this spring is? Brilliant sunshine, loads of rain, cool days, and the normal riot of blooms in this part of the world. Maybe I'm really noticing it because of the circumstances around me, but I am so, so thankful for God's majesty shown through the wonder of creation.

I've been pretty swamped with teaching stuff the last week, and the beginning of this week is shaping up to be similar. The problem with online teaching is that you are available *all the time*--blessing and a curse! And your students are sort of available all the time...if they check their emails and messages. Since Texas schools won't reopen this school year, there are a few more weeks of this stretch experience left. The nice parts? Bathroom breaks whenever! More flexibility. Getting to talk to my cat all day. Eating lunch in peace and quiet. Yet, I can't wait for life to go back to 'normal.'

My hand is slowly improving, and I was able to indulge in a lot more handwork this week than I have for the last month. One thing that has been giving me a great deal of pleasure is spinning. I love the rhythm of spinning—the hands and feet working together, the sound of the wheel, and the magic of watching your bobbin fill up. I had started spinning another chunk of this Easter colored pencil roving when Beth was visiting, and after some thought decided to Navajo ply it. I gave it quite a bit of twist, and I think it might be the best yarn I’ve made yet. At the very least, I think it’s the one that will knit up most like a commercial yarn. I plied it on my wheel, which I haven’t tried for quite some time, and was very pleasantly surprised by how it went. Maybe I’m just a better spinner!

Once I got that project finished, I returned to the big purple spin. A lovely friend gave me two bags of wool for my birthday last year, and I'm going to divide each bag into fourths, spin them up, and then ply one of each together. I love how this fiber spins, and I love that I'm getting better at this! I can't wait to see what the finished yarn looks like, and how much I end up with. No special plans for this yet, but it's sure fun to work on.

While I ave restarted my brioche cowl, I’m not quite ready to dive back into that just yet—the pain of FROGing (though needed) hasn’t quite faded enough yet.

I’ve been working on some gift socks that I had high hopes of finishing for Christmas (but didn't--Mother's Dayish?), and a new summer top, Vanora. I’m using Lion Brand Coboo—the same yarn I made my tank out of last year, but I’m going bold with the bright magenta colorway. This is essentially two rectangles seamed together, but I’m going to do mine in the round from the underarms down, and I’m planning on putting in just a little waist shaping while I’m at it. It’s a simple pattern, but I think I’ll really enjoy wearing it once it’s done. Plus, having more warm weather knits means I can enjoy my handiwork year round!

The other thing I worked on this week, was finishing up this brilliant little purse. I used some leftover Nomadic Yarn’s in the Ginny Weasley colorway, and was quite pleased with how it turned out. I love little bits of everyday wizardry like that—so clever! This is an excellent use of leftover sock yarn as it only took 9 grams, and it was fun to watch the magic take shape. I lined mine with some grosgrain ribbon I happened to have on hand, and have plans for at least one more.

Other than that, quarantine life continues on. I'm still walking almost every morning in the gardens near my house, making a weekly pilgrimage to Wal-Mart, and getting some good reading in. I'm enjoying delicious Silver Grizzly coffee in the afternoons, and the luxury of not having to worry about whether my pants and shirt match. Little things, always important, are even more so these days! Oh--I have added these delightful yarns to my stash. The red is a beautiful merino-silk blend from Expression Fiber Arts--a Christmas gift card cashed in finally. And the purple is the April Knitcrate yarn. I think I'm going to order some more so I can make a layering cardigan--I use them all the time!

Parting shot: My 'co-worker' is hard at work napping; he has had a bit of a struggle to get it all in with me being home, but he does his best.