Old School

So an old friend of mine dropped by last week,  that was lovely as he and his wife don't live nearby.


He mentioned that he still had a sweater that I knit for him some years ago (!)  I couldn't  believe that he still had it!   He was most gracious and said that it was one of only two handknit sweaters that he owned.  Of  course, I asked him to send me a photo.  Here it is

I could not recall the pattern or the yarn although I suspected that it was Candide yarn…I knit at least a couple of sweaters from this yarn back in the 70's.

I located the pattern quickly at Ravelry

Umm it's the Candide Raglan Herringbone pullover. 

Apparently, according to Ravelry, this tough, long wearing yarn is no longer available through Reynolds, but is still being produced by Briggs and Little under the name  "Atlantic."  

"Back in the day" as some would say, great yarn would last a while...

Southeastern Animal Fiber Fest

I went to SAFF in Asheville last month.  I don't have alot of this type of event where I live...it's too hot here for anything but hair sheep that shed when the weather turns warm, save Carrie and Kurt in Hampton SC.  (However, someone I know spotted a local alpaca, but I haven't seen it).  So, SAFF was pretty darned fun.  Here are some views:

ALPACAS

LLAMAS?

ANGORAS

Yes, it's true, I want one.  I got to hold one …  puffy soft…I really seriously thought about coming home with one...

And, my friend Tamara…who led me down the garden path to indigo dyeing, which is truly a gateway addiction leading to more home chemistry experiments with natural dyes

I actually got to spin on this fabulous great wheel. An anonymous bystander actually talked me through the process…thank you, who ever you are!  This wheel was made by Lyle Wheeler of LyleWheelerchairmaker.com.  I want one

Vendor mart…serious fun…can't wait till next year!

Dia de los Muertos 2013

It is Dio de los Muertos, the Mexican "Day of the Dead" during which we can more easily commune with our ancestors. Marigolds are a symbol of the holiday, and mine are doing REALLY well now that our weather has moderated, although maybe the composted manure helped too...

Not Quite a Baby Gift

So a few years ago (18 to be exact) I worked with a friend, we'll call her A.  She and I became pregnant at about the same time.

Several months into my pregnancy we moved away and I was busy being pregnant, starting a new job, etc etc.  

Now I usually knit baby gifts for friends but I was so busy that A's baby did not receive a hand knit.

Fast forward 19 years:  A somewhat newer friend, J,  (who also happens to be a knitter) is into Dr. Who.  In trolling about on knitty.com, I discovered Bigger On The Inside. No, this is not an unseemly name (and heaven knows what unseemly traffic I'll get just for typing those words) but more importantly:  it is a shawl/scarf and its name refers to Dr. Who's conveyance called "The Tardis" which was/is/will be ( think that might be some Dr. Who humor)  a blue English police box on the outside  but a larger space ship interior a la 1960 on the inside. 

(Here's the closest thing I could find during my trip to Wales...a telephone box).

So, I posted the knitty page on FB to show J.

Well, A. spied my post and immediately asked me to knit one for her daughter (who is a month younger than my son). Naturally, I obliged.  As it turns out, A's daughter is a lover of green, as am I. 

I used Knitpicks Stroll in the color Peapod.

My favorite Dr. Who is Tom Baker.  TARDIS, as it turn out, stands for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space".  

Northwoods Farm, my "local" alpaca farm

My LYS is 30 minutes away (I think that's a long ride...) and I have no local local sheep or fiber farms, seeing as how I live in a fairly hot climate (that would be gardening zone 8...).


Several months ago my brother moved from western North Carolina to upstate South Carolina.  He called me excitedly and said "Wendy, there are llamas on a farm nearby!"  I assured him that the animals were probably alpacas not llamas.  The name of the place is Northwoods Farm.

On a visit to see him recently I went to see the alpacas.

I think that this is a group of youngsters. 

 I knew that there was a yarn shop there as well, I figured that it was a small shop selling wool from their animals.

WRONG!  Teri's shop is a vast cavelike treasure trove of fibers and equipment.

Teri also offers many classes, check her out on Facebook.


However, I stuck local, and bought some alpaca spun from their flock

Lovely stuff...will find a project soon for this

Another hap

So...someone to whom I'm related doesn't read my blog, so it makes no difference that I post something regarding her Christmas gift...

She travelled in Skye a couple of years ago and bought some yarn.  It is an itchy business...she couldn't tell me where exactly she's gotten it.

She tried to knit something with it, no luck, and "gifted" it to me.

My inclination was to do another hap...as a gift back to her.

I doubled the yarn.  The yarn is cream with some brown.  Makes me think of Scottish Blackface.  Who the heck knows...

I knit a hap square, and added churro handspun from Cassie to do the "traditional"  feather and fan lace border.  Luckily the natural colors look OK together.

You know, on a cold night with no central heating, this would be quite warm!  It's 4" by 4'

Indigo Dyeing Part Deux

So, in my last post I described Tamara's workshop using a one time dye bath with kit.

Now that I had some idea of what I was doing, my friend J and I undertook an indigo dyeing project using a more chemically-based method for a dyepot that would be reusable

Note the disinterested cat...not a bad thing.

We used Jacquard Products Indigo Tie Dye Kit as we had at the workshop only this time we used the included reducing agent.  Here's J stirring the pot

After introducing the pre moistened fiber, you have to move it around carefully so as to not add oxygen to the dye bath until you're ready to remove it

The fiber comes out of the dyepot green and you watch it turn blue as the indigo oxidizes (combines with oxygen in the room air). Here's a before and after of some handspun cormo from Jupiter Moon Farm

The plies of  my two ply chunky did not take up the dye evenly so there's a subtle barber pole effect

J is planning to cut up some TARN (that is, tee shirt yarn) and dyed some tee shirts  (when I looked up tarn it turns out that "tarn" also means a mountain pool...appropriate that she was dyeing it blue)

In Wales my friend L purchased some laceweight BFL and silk from Bluefaced Yarn Shop  for me to dye for her.  This turned out the best, because the silk took the dye so well and it is lovely and shiny.  Yes, I did get it back into a skein but the takeaway was...tie up those skeins with several extra ties before dyeing!

We pretty much exhausted the dye pot but will do this again!

And finally, here is a video on how to cut a tee shirt into tarn