Weather

Roving Breakdown for Fractal/Gradient Spinning

/ LDSVenus

I saw a very interesting way to do fractal spinning without a blending board or drum carder on a youtube video here and a forced gradient here , videos are by The Knitting Expat.  What I am doing is a slight combination of these, we will see how it turns out. 🙂  The picture of the mostly purple parts on this first bobbin is not nearly as bright as it is. The picture taken by my camera looks bright and true to color but it didn’t translate into that when I uploaded it, ugh.   It’s not finished I still have two more sections of the purple before I start on the lighter 2nd bobbin.  Both fiber bundles weighed in at about 55 grams, if my weighing scale is to be believed :P.

Hopefully I will be ordering the the carding cloth next week so I can make a blending board for my spinning.  The Knitting Expat shows how to make one on this youtube video.  Then I will just need to buy a cutting board and staple gun to put it together with :).  So excited!

I got a lot of time spinning on the balcony this past week with the sunshine and nice warm but not hot days.  It was wonderful being outside for more than brief periods of time after our long hard winter and all the rain we had earlier this Spring, but the bugs are now coming out and we have off and on rain again for the next week.  Wish my balcony was screened in so I could enjoy spinning outside a bit longer without flies, gnats, and mosquitoes :).  Maybe I’ll try a essential oil bug repellent combination to keep them away :).

2nd Skein of SW Merino for the Spin-a-long

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2nd Skein of teal sw merino for spinalongWell I finished the 2nd skein for the scarf I’m going to make for my friend. I think I know what pattern I want to use, but I’m going to search a bit more to make sure.   It was 140 yds (57g) so including the 1st skein, this should give me 342 yds.  Plenty of yarn for a longer scarf.

She wanted the color teal and the 2nd dye bath color came out a little lighter than the 1st skein, as you can see in the picture (the 1st skein I already wound into a ball.)  So what I plan on doing is starting with the lighter skein on the ends, then blending it with the darker skein so it looks more like a color gradient on the ends.  We will see if what I have planned turns out as I picture it when I am done :P.

Going to take advantage of the beautiful weather we are having (a month late).  Think I will spin on my balcony again today :), because I know shortly the hotter, muggier, full of biting bugs weather will be here.

Oh, the SW in the title is short for Super Wash, means the fiber was treated so it shouldn’t felt or shrink when washed.  Even so, I caution people to treat it a little more carefully than not, ie: hand wash, lay flat to dry (which also allows you to block it for prettier results :).)

FO!

/ LDSVenus

I finished the socks I was knitting for an infant I am watching for a few months.  Altho’ these went pretty fast (because they are small :P), they really were not small enough to be newborn, they would probably fit more like a 12 to 18 month old.  But maybe it’s because I used a baby yarn that is a bit thicker than a sock yarn.

So, to give this pattern the benefit of the doubt, I picked up a sock yarn from Hobby Lobby (they were having a 30% off all their yarn sale this week :)).  It is Premier Yarns, color Vegas Lights and is acrylic, so her mom can just throw it in the washer and dryer.  I will give this another try before I move on to another pattern.  I’m interested to see how the colors work up in a very small pair of socks.  Wondering if I can even get all the colors in one little sock or if I will have to do yarn management to get them to turn out more or less the same.  Otherwise she can be like the teens and have mismatched socks, which have been the rage for more than several years.

I haven’t seen the robins yet, but maybe I just missed them?  I usually see the males staking out small territories they then defend from other males so they can try to lure a female Robin to their area. The females show up  2 weeks after the males.  I expect to see the male Robins very soon, we have been having upper 40’s and lower 50’s days , it is so wonderful!!  I love Spring!

HFO Object and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

/ LDSVenus / 1 Comment

I started this “newborn” sock on Friday evening, so much for it being newborn tho’.  I used some (very) deep stash, Red Heart Pompadour yarn, and size 0 double pointed needles (because it’s too small for my 9 inch circs), but honestly this is not a newborn size, this would fit a 12 to 18 month old :(.  It was a different kind of heel so that was interesting, but this won’t fit the little one I knit it for for several months out :P.  I did start the 2nd sock so I won’t have 2nd sock syndrome 🙂 and it’s all sock practice, right?  They are a pretty quick knit, because they are so small :P.  I’d rather not go down to 00 size needles, so maybe finding a finer yarn would be best for my next try.  Still a nice sock tho’.

I can’t give you the pattern info because I forgot where I got it, ugh!  I looked but couldn’t not find the source, I did post the first page so if you feel inclined to search farther than I did on Ravelry and the internet (and I did search), you can do that.  The copy-write says 2013.

I woke up to about 2 inches of fluffy snow this morning.  It was starting to melt by the time I went to Church and was blowing off the trees because it was a very light powder snow.  I was so excited by the warmer weather I forgot we can get snow here through April.  On Friday, I also saw some geese, the Robins can’t be far behind :).

Project Done!

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My project was my Little Lace Cat’s Paw Scarf design with my hand spun yarn.  I’ve knit this little scarf several times and still enjoy it.  The colors on the scarf are blown out, it really is a medium teal color instead of the lighter color that shows.

I am working on spinning on my Rick Reeves spinning wheel, but the tension is a bit finicky (it’s a double band drive tensioned wheel and I’m use to scotch tension).  I won’t give up, I’ll get it eventually, it’s the only wheel I have at the moment that does not need some repairs, so learn on it I must :P.  I’ve got quite a bit of practice fiber, so I will keep working on it and save my nice fiber for after I have the learning curve down :).

Our weather has gotten much better, rain instead of snow and we have been in the 30’s, 40’s, and today and tomorrow lower 50’s!!  WOOT Spring is almost here, we will be back in the 30’s and 40’s after today.  I say almost because we can still get snow through April.  But I will be keeping an eye open now for the Robins, who are my true signal that Spring is finally here :).  I love Spring!

Still More Snow! Working on a Project

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More snow mid Feb 2019

Yes more snow!  It’s been snowing since sometime last night and they say will continue until sometime tonight.  We are expected to get between 4 to 6 inches.  I left this picture a little bigger than normal, so you could see the snow flakes, I could have made the picture bigger but you can still see all the white dots in the picture :).  I can’t believe I actually got a picture of the snow falling!  But, you know there is always a but, it’s because they are huge flakes :P.  I took this a littler earlier around 1 pm.  Also it looks like more snow this coming week and next Sunday, sigh.

I am working on a project with the yarn I spun from the rolags, but won’t comment on it yet.  When it’s done and safely in the mail, I will post a picture.

Hope if anyone else is getting snow from this rather large storm, that you are safe and warm :).

Cold Temps and Another Hat

/ LDSVenus

jan2019snows This is a picture of the back yard of a friends house so you can see all the snow we have had this Jan.  We also got another 2 inches today, that would make about 19 inches this month, sigh.

We also had some pretty low temps the past 3 days.  Tuesday night got down to about 25 below zero Fahrenheit and with wind chills was about 40 to 45 below zero.  Last night we broke a record with a low of -30 below zero and with wind chills it got down to about 55 below zero.  Our daytime temps were in the lower 20’s below zero  and with wind chills close to 40 below (that is in the day time!), On Wed the post office actually closed and said no postal deliveries.  We got up to -1 today!  Tomorrow should be 18 above and by Sunday we should be around 40 above, a heatwave!!!!

Another Basia Hat

The hat my daughter chose for me to knit from the alpaca I hand spun (a fingering weight) for her was the Basia hat, unfortunately it calls for sport weight, so I added my last skein of the polypay yarn (a sport weight) from the last fleece I sent in a couple of years ago.  I died it brown and tho it is much lighter than the alpaca (I knit them together) it is a very pretty marled color.  I think she will be pleased.  She could have used it this week :P, but it will be done hopefully by the week end.

3rd Substantial Snowfall for Winter 2018-2019

/ LDSVenus

3rd snowfall for winter 2018-2019 We got more snow over night.  The weather station said 5 inches but I think it was more like 4 inches, still it’s added to what we had last Friday into Saturday.  The biggest add on for this one was that yesterday morning was mostly freezing drizzle so we had a thin sheet of ice under the snow that happened later in the evening.  Yeah, slippery roads.  Also forecasted to have substantially below 0 temps on Thursday night (- 20F) and 0 on Friday, so with wind chills that could be very cold, and forecast for more snow Thursday thru next Monday, we will see how well the weather forecasters called it.  Good day (and week end) to stay in and maybe spin or knit :).  Hope everyone is safe and warm.

 

2nd Winter Snow Storm 2018-2019

/ LDSVenus / 1 Comment

2nd Winter Snow Storm 2018-2019 We got our 2nd snow storm of the winter, last Friday overnight into Saturday.  We ended up with about 5 to 6 inches depending on where you took the measurement.  We were spared the ice and freezing rain with the storm, but we did have minus temps over night and with wind chills they said it could get down to -20,  I didn’t check to see what it actually did get down to with the wind chill, it was enough that it was below zero :P.  It was up to 9 today and tonight is suppose to be down to -4.  BRRRR, but on Monday it is suppose to be in the teens and maybe to 30 on Wed, woot woot a heat wave :P.  Looks like more snow on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, doesn’t look like much but the temps by Friday will be back to minus numbers.  Friday ambient temp will be -3 and -10 over night, wind chills will make it feel colder than that.  Looks like Old Man winter is finally here.  Only good thing about that is, we can now start to look forward to SPRING!  Ok, so now I start asking, is it Spring yet?

 

Winter 2018-2019 – First Substantial Snow

/ LDSVenus

Winter 2018-2019 first substantial snow We have finally received our first substantial snowfall for the 2018-2019 winter season and it’s already into January.  We have a had a few little snow storms this season, but you noticed I didn’t even post a picture they were so minor.  We will probably end up with between 3 and 4 inches.  It started last night sometime (I was a sleep :P) and it is still snowing (about 1:30 pm my time).   I took this picture about 10:00 am. The weather map shows it continuing until sometime after 7:30 pm.  These are tiny flakes so it take a lot to make an inch :P.  I hear the snow plows going over the roads off and on, noisy critters they are. 😛