Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Camp Fiber

I finally finished spinning the first half of my 4 oz of Polworth top.  I haven’t been using a reference card or anything to help with consistency, and I have a feeling that the last bit I spun was thicker than the first bit (because the spindle was getting heavier).  We shall see when it is plied.  Supposedly you can spin as much fiber as the weight of the spindle, but that seems like a lot to me.  This is about 2 oz of fiber on a 4 oz spindle:IMG_6759I’ll wind that off onto a piece of PVC pipe I brought with me before beginning the next half.  The grey sock is on its 3rd iteration.  I decided that I wasn’t happy with the way the 2x2 rib transitioned into the stitch pattern.  I took a 1-hour ribbing class with Cookie A at Sock Summit about exactly this, so I couldn’t stand not getting that right on one of her designs (her pattern calls for a picot edge, which I don’t think would be right with such a rustic yarn, so I’m substituting a ribbed edge).  I also decided to make the ribbed cuff part much deeper, since I have plenty of yarn (5 oz).  So that photo shows a Cauchy sock with a deep ribbed cuff plus 1 22-round pattern repeat.  When I do sock #2, I’ll modify the ribbing again – I should have planned to put the decreases in the purl stitches rather than the knit ones.  I think they would disappear better.  Knit and learn, right?

The grey sock is kind of bulky.  You may not be able to tell from that photo above, but the grey yarn cake is supersized and not so portable.  So I started my backup project to work on during the camping portion of our trip.  I’m doing a stitch pattern from the Vogue Stitchionary with some Socks that Rock Lightweight from stash (colorway Love-in-idleness).  It’s pooling a bit, but the colors are still lovely:

IMG_6756We have been camping the last 2 nights (one more to go) and it has been rather rainy here, off and on.  Luckily, we hung a tarp over our picnic table, which makes a dryish place to hang out while it rains (other than the tent, which is super steamy here in the humid South).  I popped into the Earth Guild in Asheville while we were there and Boy 1 seemed excited about the potholder loom – so of course we got it:IMG_6758The “deluxe” kit comes with enough loops to make six potholders.  Boy 1 made the first one with random loops.  IMG_6716Then S1 made one with a gradiating color pattern.  Then Boy 1 started another one with a different pattern.  Need a potholder?  We’re in production mode.

IMG_6771We lucked out and were in Asheville the day of The Big Crafty festival.  We had such a great time browsing the booths and getting inspired.  The building that some of the booths were in also housed a children’s museum, which we got free admission to with our Whitaker Center membership, so that worked out great – one parent stayed with the kids in the museum while the other shopped, and then we traded.  The Big Crafty is the kind of craft fair where you can buy things like vegan cupcakes and beer.  A great scene.  We got some fun things to remember our visit there.

My turn on the internet is coming to a close, so I’ll yield the netbook.  See you soon!

2 comments:

  1. Potholder looms! Headlamps being a necessary tool of the craft, of course. I totally understand. I never wanted to take mine off at Mt. Whitney last summer. Sounds like you and your family are having fun.

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  2. You've been gone FAR TOO LONG! Come home...I need Thai food with you and S1. My summer is close to over and we haven't had even one lunch/knit date.

    And LOVE the potholders!

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