They've changed blogger so it's harder to understand how to post or what I'm doing with it in my absence. I frankly dislike it when things are "improved" when I'm not looking, but it happens all of the time. The only constant in my life is Change.

So about those banjos - I can indeed play a few songs now on the tenor banjo, and I'm damn proud of the fact. I'd like to spring for more music, but it'll have to wait. I make do with what's on the web, and there are a lot of free guitar chords listed on the web. However, if you want the melody or it written in musical notation, usually you have to pay extra for that.

I feel like writing, but not here. I am crawling into myself and I don't feel all that much like sharing. In other news, I am exercising, so even if weight loss doesn't happen, I feel stronger and more durable.

Maybe splitting the knitting off separately was a bad thing

Because I never seem to use this blog, and most people direct to the other one.

So yeah, let's just go back to the weird blog. I will probably not post here again.

Holiday Knitting

Right now, I am full of holiday knitting for loved ones, and almost done. I swore I wouldn't do a lot in December, because I made a big push in June to get most of it done, but here I am. Again.

So instead of posting what I've been doing lately, here's Max, rocking his santa hat.

Karma happens

Once upon a time (about three years ago), Someone taught me to spin. She bought me my first spindle and a bit of fluffy silk and said, "Here- Try it." So I did. I know have a wheel and a bin full of fiber and a few more spindles.

Last week, she saw one of our fiber friends had learned to weave, and she sighed and wished someone would show her. I happen to have a table loom from my mother and an inkle loom from another friend, so I went for a walk with a lot to carry, and then this happened:



I warped the table loom with some white yarn while she balled up a nice contrasting color. (and yes, that's the inkle in the back right). Then she actually tried the weaving part:



I do okay as a beginning teacher when I'm one on one. I left the table loom with her and let her work some more without me... and she figured out this stuff further all on her own. See?



I am very proud of her. :) And I feel I have paid her back with her own new obsession.

Proud as a peacock

Flapping in the wind

I finished it, and I love showing it off. I'll be wearing it to Rhinebeck. There were at least two women I became friends with over discussions of this shawl while knitting in public. Hopefully I can wear it for more formal occasions if I ever buy a little black dress to go with.

And here is the alternative model, the mysterious Nora. She only looks upset because she would rather be arms spread out and pretending she was flying with the breeze.

The Mysterious Miss N

The problem with shawls

The problem with shawls is that when you get near the end of a full-size shawl, it takes so long to get through a row that you start fantasizing about other projects. I've cast on a new sock and a purse instead of trying to do the rest of this shawl. I'm on chart 7 of 9 (and the last two are edgings). It takes about 45 minutes to get through a row now. I'd rather look at other yarn and fantasize about knitting just socks.

I've resolved, however, to finish this shawl by Rhinebeck AND knit another one too. Fortunately, it'll be a different pattern and color. (and I've already knit two citrons this summer).

My other resolution is to knit a sweater This Year. Gosh I'm ambitious. I think next year will be back to socks. It's a good thing I have half of my holiday knitting done already.

The above shawl is the Peacock Feather Shawl in lace weight Fiji, for them what are curious.

NH Sheep & Wool (2010)

Last weekend was the New Hampshire Sheep & Wool festival, and I went with my boss ladies and helped out.

Booth with boss ladies

Just before I left for the woolfest, Jazz asked me, "Are there sheep?"

This just made me giggle. Not only are there sheep, but there are alpaca, llama, goats, and bunnies. And a few dogs too, but I didn't take any pictures of the dogs. Just as I was getting ready to go though, one lovely border collie crawled on his belly up to me (dragging his poor owner), and demanded loving. He reminded me of our basset and how he'll lie and say nobody ever loves on me and how abused he is. So perhaps I put off leaving NH for five minutes of puppy love.

Baby angora bunny

A bunny like this was carried around in a basket on someone's back for much of Sunday. They usually have fluffy buns for sale, or at the very least petting.

Wall o' Fleece

Of course more people are there to buy the freshly shorn fleeces, and I astonish people when I tell them I'm not allergic to the wool in this form. The smell of a clean fleece is delightful, and it's fun to me to stick my hand in and pet the lovely fibers.

Alpaca

The weather all weekend was very cold. These alpaca had to have coats put on because they were freshly shorn. Some of the sheep had coats too, but that is usually for protecting the coat from vegetable matter and dirt. Even I was cold, and I don't get cold that easily. I'll bring handwarmers and more layers next time. I may have to actually knit myself a sweater or something. Cold kept the customers away and sapped our energy. I'm very tired right now, even if it is a happy tired.
Goats

I think they're pygora, but I could be wrong. They are very tiny goats, about the same size as Max our mini schnauzer. It is tempting to think we have room in our yard for these little goats, but honestly, taking care of them is harder than the dogs, so I don't really want one. This is also why Jazz is probably safe from bunnies.

Wendsleydale sheep

And yes, there were sheep. This one just had an adorable face I could not resist.

At the end of the day

This is a brief glimpse of the chaos that is arrival or departure - things partly packed, needing to be moved, always when one is tired, and then the long drive home. But I got to hug and see many friends and make a few new friends, and a little more money went home with me than stayed there, so overall a happy tired weekend.

And that's what a fiber festival just is.

See y'all in three weeks for Massachusetts Sheep & Wool.

The Iron Knitter report

I am occasionally vain about how fast I knit, so when someone posted a sock race competition, I felt it was mine to lose. I was irritated when they added things like puzzles and large gaps of time between rounds, but I still played along. This involved six pairs, and I finished in the top 15 of 98.

Pair #1 This pair was given to Gwynivar for her belated Kissmoose gift. Other than knitting straight off the cone of undyed yarn so there was more twist than there ought to be, this pair had no problems.

Pair #2 I heavily modified the pattern on the cuff so that it would fit, or else it would have had horrible cankles. The pattern also called for cuff down, which I dislike knitting. The one on the right was later completely frogged and reknit toe up for better fit. These I kept for me.

Pair #3 This pair is a little tight on the cuff. If I knew someone with skinny legs, I'd consider gifting them. The pattern called for cuff down, but I knit them toe up and no one noticed.

Pair #4 I love the color break in this yarn, but again, the pattern wasn't a gauge that will fit me. All of the patterns we were told over and over again were on Size 2 needles, although this one's instructions said size 0 needles. I think they would have fit me had I used 0s. While knitting this one, Max had health issues and required extensive dental surgery. This pair and a pair I knit between rounds went to his furry paw mother who helped us cope with that. You can see this sock is almost falling off my ankle.

Pair #5 I liked this pattern - it was toe up. The thing I did not like was that it wasn't centered on my foot, and I will re-write it for better centering if I ever knit this again, or only put the lacy bits on the ankle. This yarn, Dream in Color Smooshy is very warm, so even though it's lacey, it's still a Very Warm Sock.

Pair #6 Finished at last. This is a complicated sock, and I didn't understand its construction when I worked it cuff down. So sock #2 was toe up, and required some fudging/re-writes to work. I liked it better with my fudges, even though it would have gotten me tossed had I been the first finisher.

These were all knit between January 20, 2010, and April 14, 2010. I also knit half a scarf and at least one other pair of socks not in the competition.

So I finished a shawl for me

This is out of Mini Mocchi, and I made up the pattern as I went along. I wanted to cast on the long way and decrease until done, because the other shawl I made did it the other way, and I was so discouraged about facing a long row, I didn't want to finish it. I think if you start with the long rows, you get the enthusiasm of starting a new project to help you over the "OMG these long rows are going to kill me!" feelings. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that if you don't decrease *every* row, you'll end up with a giant square. And the edges could have been deeper to prevent curling, but a good block still takes care of that.

Mini Mocchi is what Noro ought to be - texturally this is lovely yarn, nice and soft, and the colors are delicious with the long gradual shifts. This is sold as a one ply sock yarn, but anyone nuts enough to use a one ply sock yarn deserves to wear out their socks very quickly. I'd use this for baby sweaters, hats, scarves, and of course, shawls.

Pattern:
I don't remember how many I cast on, but it had to be divisible by 7 (number of stitchmarkers available) plus 4. I think it was 22 stitches between stitchmarkers. Garter stitch four rows. Then k2, yo, ssk, k to marker, yo, ssk, k to marker, yo, ssk, k to marker, k2tog, yo, k3tog, yo, skk, k to marker, k2tog, yo, k to marker, k2tog, yo, k to marker, k2tog, yo, k2. Purl back. The k3tog in the middle will very very slowly eat the stitches.

Here be Dragon

This is the dragon I made one of my brother's kids for Kissmoose, based off the Alan Dart pattern, out of malabrigo, only because it was The Perfect Dragon Color.


Ariana decided she really liked him a lot. She played with him long enough to get into trouble with tossing him around the house.

But Aidan, for whom the gift was really intended, was more obsessed with showing off his butt.