Mittens in August

Who would knit a pair of wool mittens in August?  San Diego Fiber Artist, that's who.  I wanted to prepare a project for our Old Town spinning demonstrations that was hand-dyed, hand spun, and knitted into something useful.  I figured that mittens would be a good project, and would be quick to knit up in time for TwainFest, on August 20.  So I picked some yarn from my stash.  The fiber is BFL, and it was a dye job that did not turn out the way I wanted.  I thought the colors were too washed out and pale looking.  I spun and plied the yarn quite a while ago, and then parked it a basket - not very happy with it.  Oh well.

But as I was looking for some of my yarn that would be suitable for mittens, the skein caught my eye.  Then I started to knit and the yarn redeemed itself.  I like the way it striped and I think it is light colored enough to show the cuff patterning.  I knitted the first mitten over a weekend, and the second one by the end of the week - very fun.  The moral of the story: for every yarn, there is a purpose.

Full Moon over Volcan Mountain

We spent most of the day in the mountains yesterday.  I had the opportunity to visit the new yarn and fiber store, Specialty Yarn and Llamas, located in the Wynola Farms Marketplace.  Open Thurs-Sun, the store is in the same building as the Orfila wine tasting room.  And across the driveway from the Country Cellars wine tasting room.  Specialty has bags and bags of beautiful natural-colored alpaca roving.

Well you didn't think I just went to look, did you???  Eight ounces of this rich brown roving, from an alpaca named Rita, will make a perfect knitted wrap.  The shop also has lots of skeins of yarn, including some wonderful lace-weight tweed yarn that I managed to resist.  Only because I have so much sock yarn.

Speaking of which, I started some easy toe-up socks with Footscray sock yarn that I dyed a couple of months ago.  I have some Blue Moon club socks on the needles but I like to have an easy project ready to go for car travel, etc.  I worked on this project in the car as we drove up to the mountains.

The colors range from caramel brown to reddish pink to deep red.  Size 1 needles, crochet invisible cast-on.  I have not decided what, if any, pattern I will use for the legs.  We'll see how the color works its way out.

After dinner, we drove down Wynola Road to the base of Volcan Mountain.  We had just enough time for a short hike.  I was glad I had my drop spindle with me, and it was fun to spin and hike - until it got too dark and we had to turn back.  As we were walking back, owls started flying over the hills as the stars came out, a few at a time.  A bright spot behind Volcan Mountain indicated where the full moon would rise.  When it came up, the light flowed like the tide over the landscape until everything was illuminated and glowing.  We drove home under the moon light.

A Week of Cotton

I spent almost all of my spinning time this past week working cotton sliver spun on the T-Frame wheel.  I completed two bobbins of singles, plied them, and finished a skein by boiling it.  I was pleased with how it came out although I think I should have plied it more firmly.

 I am now moving on to some brown cotton sliver from Cotton Clouds   http://www.cottonclouds.com/ .  I have had this for a while, but was not ready to try it until now.  It spins so easily that I have gone through quite a bit already.

One problem I had was finding something to wind the plied cotton on so that I could boil it.  Try finding a plastic cone or bobbin that does not have yarn on it.  I have several in my stash but they all have lots of yarn still on them.  Old fashion hair curlers (the large plastic ones from the 70s)?  They seem too short.  I ended up winding the plied yarn onto a glass bottle to boil it.  It worked OK but I got another idea: what about a metal niddy noddy?  Well, one day at work I was talking to Rachel and noticed a metal book holder hanging on her partition wall.  We took off the legs, and ended up with a metal frame just the size for putting in a pot with yarn wound around it.  This will work until I can find the plastic cones or bobbins.  

The other spinning I did this week was on the Navajo spindle.  This was the first time I have tried using it.  It was great fun and a good outdoors activity for a warm evening.

Spinning Cotton in Hot Weather

I have been practicing daily on my new Alden Amos driven spindle wheel, learning to spin cotton.

This picture is right after I opened the package and assembled the wheel, I am getting the hang of it with some wool roving.  Now, I am spinning cotton sliver I purchased from Yolo Wool Mill in the spring.  It spins like a dream, so easy to make wonderful cotton yarn.  My plan is to spin a few bobbins of it, ply it, then move on to colored cotton.  Here in San Diego, cotton in the summer seems like a 'must' do.

Today Rachel and I practiced the long draw in the back yard.  We are getting a little weather from a hurricane in Mexico and actually had a few raindrops.  I finished one mitten from some hand-dyed handspun I thought I did not like; but it turned out OK!  It's BFL, so how bad could it be?  I want to be able to show the mittens at Twainfest in Old Town San Diego in August.

Women and the West

Yesterday's event in Old Town was called Women and the West.  We had weaving, quilting, spinning, soap making, doing the laundry, lace making, and cooking.

There was plenty of public interest in the Fiber Arts activities.  And the Sleeping Beauty question came up more times than I have ever heard it.  Plus a bonus, someone knew the Rumplestiltskin story in detail - a treat.

Donna and Michelle demonstrated the inkle loom, Rachel and I spun, and Susan continued on her quilt repair project.  I forgot to mention that the blacksmiths were blowing up anvils again.  This time, with extra loud charges.  We had the hand spindles out, and provided instruction on using them to children and interested adults.  Next month, Twain Fest.  In the meantime, I will working on learning how to use my new driven spindle wheel to spin cotton.  Talk about Sleeping Beauty....that spindle is pointy!

July Fourth 2011 in Old Town San Diego

By all estimates, there were five times as many people in Old Town yesterday for the Fourth of July event as there were in 2010.  We had two tents for spinning and weaving.  I spun the Romney roving that I had dyed on Saturday.

Unlike last Fourth of July, which was cool and cloudy, it was hot, humid, and sunny yesterday.  The weather did not stop everyone from having an active day. To start things off, there was a parade around the plaza, with public participation.  State Parks offered dancing, pie-eating, sack racing, a cake walk, and other games and diversions.  Children made hats and dolls.  The blacksmiths blew up anvils, sending them into the air with an explosive charge.

In terms of public inquiries, we had four Sleeping Beauty questions, one Rumpelstiltskin question (a first!), and one person who thought I was making fluff from string (there's always one).  The winner for the oddest question was a lady who watched us for several minutes, and then asked why we were not wearing lipstick.

Last Dye Day?

As the temperature nears 90 degrees, we wonder if it is the last dye day for the season.  To prepare for a full day of spinning in Old Town tomorrow, July Fourth, I dyed some reds and a bit of yellow.  This is Pin-drafted roving from Morro Fleece Works.  Eight ounces.  It came out great and I can't wait to spin it long draw.

I am hoping it is completely dry by tomorrow morning.  By the way, here is a photo of Frida for those who have been asking.

Yes, she was another stray.  Came to us half-starved and filthy.  A young cat full of energy and curiosity.  A unique individual, as are the others.  The Fiber Artist will be in Old Town tomorrow all day, new bonnet and all.  Have a safe and sane Fourth of July.