Out With The Old? In With The New?

First, Out With The Old. Here's a recap of last year:

What I Knitted:

ToolMan’s Driving Cap
Barbie Clothes
Queen Anne’s Lace Shawl
Dryer Balls
White Mohair Cowl
LaLa’s Simple Shawl in Sea Wool
Storm Cloud shawlette
Hot water bottle cozy from handspun
LaLa’s Simple Shawl in StitchJones (gifted)
Readers Wrap in Twinkletoes (may be frogged)
Baby Surprise Jacket for trtlbby
Clapotis in BMFA handspun
Socks for me
Bamboo & Ewe socks for ToolMan
Wool socks for ToolMan
Transitions short sleeve cardigan for me
Sample sock for StitchJones
LaLa’s Simple Shawl in Glam Sock Yarn
Swallowtail for me
Yak Hat for ToolMan
Fingerless Mitt (6 pair) for coworkers
Hat for Nic
Scarves (4) for coworkers
Coffee Cup Cozies (12 or 13, I lost count) for coworkers
Felted Bowl for Jane
Elf Hat
Fulled Bags (gifted)


What I Spun:

Lots and lots of yarn in lots and lots of different fibers


New Things I Learned:

Went to a sheep shearing and processed the fleece
Drumcarded batts for the first time
Went to alpaca shearing
Processed and spun the exploded clown fiber


Other Stuff I Did:

Unraveling Sweaters Tutorial
Dryer Balls Tutorial
World Wide Knit In Public Day
World Wide Spin In Public Day
Demonstrated at Multnomah Days
Assisted at Sock Summit


Of course, there's the other stuff that happened last year: Although there were some really great things that happened last year, like Sock Summit, the basket of hearts from Knit Sibs, there were also the really not-so-great things that happened last year. Like ToolMan's heart attack and colon cancer, got a new job in The Big Company and changed offices, Andy Rooney became diabetic, my brothers faced health issues, and I continued battling sarcoidosis. I wasn't sad to see the end of 2009. As far as I'm concerned, it went on way too long.


Now, In With the New. Here's what I've got planned, so far:

Pattern Writing:

There are a couple patterns rolling around in my head that I'd like to get published this year. I signed a contract for one to be in a book, so one of them will be released into the world this year. As for the others, we shall see what develops.


Knitting:

I've cast on a new project: a pair of socks for myself in Bamboo and Ewe. I loved the way it felt when I knitted that pair for ToolMan and decided to make myself a fancy pair in red to wear with my black mary janes. I must have been suffering from temporary insanity because I picked a pattern with . . . are you ready? A 72 row repeat. That's right, A SEVENTY-TWO ROW REPEAT. I started it three times before I quit arsing it up. I thought for a moment, and only a short moment, about knitting them the way I usually do: two at once on separate sets of dpns. Except that in this pattern, the socks are MIRROR IMAGES of each other. So you knit one sock reading the chart from left to right and the other from right to left. Even thinking about doing them at the same time seemed like a big ole' piece of crazy pie that would surely come back to bite me in the ass. So, one at a time it is. Gotta say though, I'm almost to the heel on the first one and it is seriously beautiful.


Spinning:

I'd like to get through a lot of the stash. There are some really luxurious fibers in there that I've been holding onto until I felt I was good enough to spin them. I think I'm ready now.


Blogging:

I've thought about giving up the blog. Not shutting it down or anything, just not being as regular about posting as I have been in the past. Oftentimes it seems that this blog is a lot of self-centered navel-gazing for me. I mean, really, I don't get all that many comments, although when I do, they're great. Usually, when I get to thinking like that, I get some great comment like the last one from Anonymous. Or my Google Analytics Report comes in and shows a bunch of hits from all over the world. Estonia? Really? Do you know how flattered I am that an Estonian knitter (you are a knitter, right?) come to read this? And Iceland? And China? And Japan? And New Zealand? And Brazil? So then I decide that I'll keep it up for awhile more. But really, see that button on the side bar that says "Would it kill you to comment?" I meant that.

My Gall Bladder:

OK, so this is new to the blog but it really should be up there in the Out With The Old. For at least 3 or 4 years, I've had near constant heartburn and reflux. About 3 months ago, nearly everything I ate made me nauseated. We finally figured out it's the dang gall bladder. So, next Thursday morning, out it comes. We'll have to see how that 72-row repeat sock gets along on pain killers.

Supposedly, I knit and spin.

I haven't actually shown you any knitting or spinning production in almost 3 weeks, so I thought it was time to cough up some pictures to prove that I really do still do those things.

I finished the Storm Cloud Shawlette by ever green knits in Schaefer "Martha." I love this pattern! It's based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi Shawl, except this one is slightly more than a half-circle, making it very easy to wear. I start wrapping with one end behind my neck, then across the front, around back, across the front again, and the second end over my shoulder. One of ToolMan's shawl pins keeps it in place beautifully.




















And the back is as pretty as the front.




















Perfect size for spring, just enough to keep the chill off. And the color is really nice, soft blues and greens; I wore it for St. Patrick's. The Schaefer yarn was very splitty to work with, but is very soft and has a lovely bloom in the finished project. It's a blend of wool, cashmere, and angora - definitely hand wash, although the label said it was one of the children's yarns. I don't know any moms of babies or small children who have time to hand wash and block a baby sweater, let alone any who would spend $40 per skein for the yarn to knit children's' wear! And when will yarn companies learn that anyone who's knitting for babies or children probably wants a superwash for everyday items? OK, rant over.

I spun up some of the small fiber samples from Abstract Fiber that have been accumulating in the stash. From left to right, they are: Mood Ring, Shady Glade, and Sunset.



Susan's fiber is wonderful to spin, and her colorways are beautiful. I particularly liked the "Sunset" colorway (red's always been my favorite color); I had 3 samples of that one, so it might become a cowl to add to my little collection.

And I finished up the Pygora blend from Mt. Hood Fibers (Go look at Deb's website, she's got the cutest little goaties on there!)and plied it with singles from silk hankies in "Aztec Sun" that I got from Crown Mountain Fibers last year at OFFF.



I am particularly happy with this; it's soft, bouncy, and the combination of shine from the silk and halo of the Pygora is just beautiful! I don't know what I'll make out of this; for now, I'm perfectly happy admiring it like sculpture on the table next to my chair.

I finally started washing the fleece from Greener Pastures Farm. This is the first time I've every scoured and processed my own fleece, and frankly, I'm not sure I'll ever do it again. It's time consuming and dirty, but I am learning a lot about what to look for when I shop for fleece.

From browsing blogs about fleece washing, I know this one isn't particularly dirty or heavy in lanolin, but I was startled when I put the first two lingerie bags in the water and this immediately happened:



Holy cow, or rather, sheep! Just look at all the dirt and lanolin coming out! I used the hottest water I could get out of the tap; we don't have children in the house, so our hot water heater is set up high enough to steam right out of the faucet. And a generous squeeze of lemon dish detergent swirled through the filled wash tub so as not to make any suds.

I've had to store the raw fleece in my stash room behind two closed doors to keep Andy Rooney out of it. But when I started washing it, I seriously underestimated the smell of greasy wool in steaming hot water; he's practically wild by the time it's time to take it out of the soapy water. I didn't want the lanolin and dirt to settle back on the fibers, so I only let it soak about 45 minutes.



I used a couple of forks to snag the lingerie bags and plop them in the other side of the sink to drain while I emptied the nasty water and filled up the wash tub with hot water for a rinse.

A ten minute soak in hot rinse water showed that it was pretty clean, but a second rinse wouldn't hurt.



After draining and another ten minutes in the second soak, and the water's clear. Time to drain and dry.



I let the lingerie bags drain in the sink for about 15 minutes while I laid out some old towels on the guest bed and set up an oscillating fan.



I spread the wet fleece bundles out to dry and Inspector 37 put on his stamp of approval. I'm not sure why this picture came out so "contrasty"; I tried every setting possible, but there must be something about the contract between the black and gray fleece and the light colors in the guestroom that causes this effect.

And the fiber must be clean enough, because by the time it was dry Andy Rooney had no interest it. I'm storing it in a large shopping bag until I have time to card or comb it.



This is only about 1/3 of the fleece in the plastic bag that needs to be processed, so I'll have lots to play with. And how glad am I that I only bought 1/2 of a fleece!