Fire Pit Dye Work

The gray Coopworth roving I dyed last weekend over the fire in the backyard came out just great.

As you can see, the first batch retained more of the undyed gray.  These are four ounce rovings.  On Friday night, I dyed another four ounces, and it's outside drying.  For that batch, I left the pot suspended over the coals all night.  In the morning, the water was clear and the fiber was dyed.

We went hiking yesterday in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, a nice long hike up Green Valley.  There was still some snow on the ground, and running water in a side creek running into Sweetwater River.  There were a few small ponds and one had a pair of mallards in it - a very secluded location to start their family.  Chores today and maybe a bit of spinning or knitting later on.  I have four more ounces of the gray Coopworth that I almost dyed last night over the fire, but now it's getting cooler again so I will save it for later.

Bee Swarm

Early yesterday afternoon we noticed a bee swarm had formed in the backyard in the hummingbird bush.  We already have a hive in the cinderblock wall behind the house, so we are used to seeing bees.  But this was a lot of bees.

There was a little activity but mostly they seemed to be quiet.  As the day ended, the swarm had gotten a lot larger.

They were moving around but not flying a lot.  I became concerned since the evenings are cool and we had a big bee die-off about a year ago that was horrible.  I checked in on them around 10 PM and they seemed OK.  This morning they are still there, and flying around a little.  It's going to be a lot warmer today, so maybe they will figure it out.

I have been dyeing over the outdoor firepit for the last two nights, after the coals have developed.  I am dyeing gray Coopworth roving that I purchased at the Vista Fiber Arts event in October.  I did not get too ambitious; I just used some red dye bath I had prepared, and sprinkled in some other purple - lilac - and blue dye powder.  I used the enamel tamale pot that is reserved for dyeing, suspended about a foot over the coals.  It came to a boil very quickly (much more quickly than a hot plate).  Photos to follow when the roving has dried.

I am knitting some cuffs using a wonderful merino sock yarn from Claudia Hand Painted Yarns.  The color is Passion Fruit. I've had it for years but it's only 50 grams so socks would have been very challenging.  Each cuff uses about 15 grams so I will have enough with a little left over.  I finished one and started the other.

The pattern is from Knitting Traditions, and was designed for color changes. Since this yarn has a lot of color going on, I just knit it by itself.  The finished one is very comforting, and I wore it most of yesterday afternoon.

Cold Weather in San Diego

Before leaving on our short vacation in late January, I attended an event at The Grove in South Park.  The event was a trunk show for shawl pins made by Fiber to Fabric Magic.  The shawl pins are two-sided, and can come with two rings for many wearing variations.  Cleverly, the pin itself is ribbed so it won't fall out.  Many of the wood pieces were rescued from the Cedar Fire, which swept through eastern San Diego County in 2003.  See for yourself at www.FiberToFabricMagic.com.

Although the last thing in the world I need is more yarn, some fantastic blue hand dyed yarn caught my eye.  It is calm, by dream; the color is Blue Fish. The website is dreamincoloryarn.com.   It was very indigo looking to me, with hints of green.  I bought two skeins and began planning for a travel knit project.  And of course, I wanted something that I could wear with my new shawl pin.

I wanted curved ends, a bit of lace, and garter stitch.  So I knitted the two ends to the middle (so they would be the same), then put them together with a three needle bind off.  I used the two skeins so the ends are complementary, but different.  The scarf is long enough to wrap around my neck and overlap on my chest.  It's wide enough to bunch up cozily around my neck.  Just right and I have been wearing it for days.  I mostly knitted it in the car on the way up and back, and a bit in the motel.  Stress free knitting, that is what I am all about.

I have an idea how to make it a little lacier for warmer weather, using garter stitch lace patterns.  I like garter stitch patterns for scarves and wraps, because I want both sides to be the same so I don't have to worry about how the item is arranged.

I did finish the red rebozo in time to take it on the trip.  I wore it all the time in the car and while wine tasting. It is plenty long to wrap around.  Photos to come.

Prudence Cap

Immediately upon receiving the latest Piecework, January-February 2013, I knew that I had to knit the Prudence Cap to wear with my historic attire.  This cap would be something warm to wear over my muslin day cap while spinning on the porch of the Estudillo House.  But darn it, I did not have the desired yarn in my stash (or at least, I did not have all the yarn).  I ordered two balls of 5-ply gansey yarn from Schoolhouse Press, one dark navy and one cream.  This is a smooth, tight yarn that would create the period appearance as desired.  With only a week to go before the third Saturday, I knitted myself into a frenzy.  

I like the way it turned out.  I struggled a bit with the ribbons because I did not want the large width ribbon specified in the pattern as written.  I decided on a more subtle look.  This cap is really, really warm. Since the winter so far has been very cool in San Diego, I thought I would definitely need to be wearing this cap. 

So imagine my surprise when the third Saturday turned out to be 80 degrees.  People were walking around Old Town in shorts and tee shirts.  A young family visiting from Philadelphia could not stop smiling and laughing.  But for the wearing of the wool bonnet?  Not so good. It stayed home.  

In the photographs I am wearing the Prudence cap over the day cap I made completely by hand from a period appropriate commercial pattern.  It's hard to find day cap patterns that aren't too puffy, and that don't tie under the chin. Still looking.  

Milkweed Spinning

Gosh, it is cold here in San Diego.  It was 35 degrees this morning, and I had frost on my windshield when I left for work.  Despite the chill, I decided to work on some milkweed spinning this weekend.  The variety is Asclepias eriocarpa, found in patches at many locations in the local mountains here in San Diego. The common name is Indian Milkweed and it is has been used widely by the local Native Americans for belts, rope, twine, nets, etc.  Hohenthal (2001: 178) noted that milkweed (axor) cordage was used by the Tipai as sewing thread until it was replaced by common cotton thread.  

I had stalks from a few plants that I collected from the local mountains.  The stalks were dry, but not too dry. I broke the outer stem a bit to loosen up the fibers.

I just did a little finger spinning.  I tried clockwise and counter-clockwise, and spinning to the left seemed to work out better for the singles.  Plus an ample supply of spit on my fingers helped a lot.  Notice the workbench which I moved from my mother's house. It's going to be just perfect for my projects.  In the photo above, you can see the spun (left) and unspun fibers as I work through them.

A small sample of two ply.  I did a few from several different stalks.  One stalk was still rather green.  It's a fine line between too green and too dry.  I'll try some additional stalks when it warms up a bit.  Brrr!

Hohenthal, William D.
2001  Tipai Ethnographic Notes: A Baja California Indian Community at Mid-Century.  Ballena Press Anthropological Papers No. 48, edited by Thomas C. Blackburn.

Winter Weaving

I like the way the brown rebozo turned out.  This was finished just in time for cool weather in Old Town.

It's mostly brown as you can see, but with lighter stripes in three shades of red.  It makes a great wrap, but I wish I had made it a bit longer.  So, the only solution is...make another one.  This time, I am using mostly red with two shades of brown striping.

Folks, in this photo it really looks more bright red than it is.  This one will be longer, but the same width and sett.  I used the two-ply Harrisville shetland yarns again.  This yarn finishes up so nicely, and is warm but light weight.  I guess I am in a rut, but I do like weaving warp stripes.  For one thing, the weaving itself is easy with only one weft color that complements the main warp color.  But the main thing is that I enjoy winding these warps.  I pick the stripe colors I want, then make the color order and stripe width as I go along following proportion principles.  In this new one, the stripes were either 3, 5, or 7 warp threads wide (8 seemed too wide).

When I first learned to weave, the patterns insisted on symmetrical stripes.  In fact, I would fold the warp in half precisely so that each side was identical across the width of the piece.  How freeing not to be enslaved to this methodology.  My pieces are now asymmetrically striped, and much more creative.  And they are unique; no machine or pattern can replicate what I do on the fly as I am warping.

End of 2012, hooray

The year 2012 was a tough one for many friends, and ended up being challenging for me as well. I have not done much spinning, etc. for the past couple of months as I have had to take care of other matters.  So, now on Christmas Eve, it's time to post again to the blog.

Before everything hit the fan, I purchased a Russian spindle from Lisa at GrippingYarn.  I am using it with Rachel's handmade bowl which works great.  Thank you!  The spindle is a lot of fun to use and is great for the BFL roving I am using.  The plan was for me to spin in my lap while on a road trip, but the vacation was canceled.  Next time.

The Pima and brown cotton I planted last spring produced several nice bolls.  The white is particularly nice to spin.  I have a couple more bolls that are not quite ripe, and I hope they are able to mature with the damp, cool weather we are having.  Wait and see, I guess.

The cotton is so clean when it's hand picked and carded.

I did not have as much of a yield with the brown cotton.  It was in a shadier spot and took longer to flower.  Lessons learned for next time.  It's been great showing people what the cotton looks like before and after spinning.

Have a peaceful and joyful holiday and new year.  I am looking forward to the end of 2012.