WIPs, SIPs, Books, & Destash

Posted on May 19, 2016 by shoelaceswitcher

The Free Time Gods have been smiling upon me, as I’ve been able to squeeze in a little more time for crafting here and there, lately. Thank goodness, as things were getting dire. My main WIP at the moment is the Newborn Vertebrae cardi I’m making for the Hatchling:

Black Trillium Fibres gradient set in Pease, click for project page.

For my third attempt at picking up edge stitches, I moved one stitch in from the slipped stitch edging and made sure to twist my stitches. I still had a few funky gaps but ended up just picking an extra stitch up and knitting it together with the one on my needle and that closed the holes well enough. I’m nearly done with the edging and then just have to decide what I want to do for sleeves. Full length? Half length? How should the gradient go?

Praise the Free Time Gods, she’s actually spun something. Click for handspun page.

I made it to a spinner’s guild meeting over the weekend and since I’m way too pregnant to lug around my wheel, this SIP was revived. I started it during Tour de Fleece LAST JULY so I’d like to finish it up here soon. At this point, I think I’d be happy to finish just ONE SKEIN OF HANDSPUN before the baby comes. I had only been using my small green Turk but released that I could get a lot more done if I spread out to other tools. Turkish spindles are great for spinning on the go but I prefer supported spindles for spinning relaxed on the couch. I’m making decent progress and think I have less than half the braid of merino left now.

Current reading.

We’re getting down to the wire here (< 6 weeks to go!) so I’m doing my homework and continuing to mentally prepare myself for The Upcoming Ordeal. This book is really great for that, it even illustrates different comfort positions and has a handy table of all the stages of labor, what I might be experiencing, and how the birth partner can best help during each stage. It’s laid out really nicely. I’d also recommend reading Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth and taking a Bradley Method course. Husband-Coached Childbirth is an ok book, but it was first written in the 50’s by Bradley and… you can tell. It’s a little like sitting down with your grandpa listening to him explain to you how to give birth. I think his methods are solid and he did revolutionary things for the attitudes of doctors towards laboring women, and the book is interesting from a sociological perspective, but I think the one pictured above will be more directly useful for me. Ina May’s book is great for taking some of the fear out of the whole process, it’s full of inspiring natural birth stories that do a good job of illustrating how different labor can be from woman to woman.

TexasJeans drop spindle

Spanish Peacock spindle bowl

Fringe Supply Fashionary notebook

Schacht zoom loom

In accepting that I will have even less time for crafting in the near future, I’m destashing some of my unused equipment. (Hover over images for name and click picture to zoom.) All prices include US shipping, I’m happy to ship internationally at cost. Either get in touch with me on Ravelry, leave a comment here, or send an email to alicia at woolendiversions dot com if you’re interested. I also still have plenty of yarn up for destash, as well.

TexasJeans polka dot drop spindle – $50 – birdseye maple, purpleheart, redheart, osage orange, and dymondwood. Whorl diameter 2 9/16”, length 10 3/4”, weight 1 1/4 oz / 37 g.
Spanish Peacock support spindle bowl – $40 – Cocobolo bowl with dimple for spindle tip, 6″ maple base.
Fringe Association Fashionary Sketchbook – $20 – Completely unopened and unused, total impulse buy!
Schacht Zoom Loom – $35 – Used only once or twice, all pieces included, slight tear in lid of box.

If you’re local (RI, MA, CT, NH), you should totally come check out the RI Fiber Festival and Craft Fair this Saturday! Sweet Sheep will be vending there and it’s a great expose to get outside and explore the beautiful grounds of the historic working farm.

Farmfest and Follies

Posted on October 30, 2015 by shoelaceswitcher

First, a bit of news: Sweet Sheep Body Shoppe will be vending at Mount Hope Farm’s Farmfest event TOMORROW, Saturday 10/31 from 9am – 2pm in Bristol, RI. It’s a beautiful site with lots of harvest and Halloween fun planned, come say hi! Now, onto the follies.

A gradient emergency!

This morning, I very nearly ripped my Norby & Pease hat back to the brim, despite being close to done. I had 5 shades of gradient yarn to use and 5 garter ridges to knit before beginning crown decreases, except I had miscounted and thought there were only 4 garter ridges, and started the gradient in the brim. I KNOW, TOTALLY DUMB, RIGHT?! In this case, I could either: 1) do one fewer pattern repeat and have a shorter hat, 2) rip back to the brim and leave that part solid, or 3) as my friend Katy so helpfully suggested, use a bit of the yarn I just bought at Rhinebeck which very nearly matches what would be the next shade in the gradient. KATY, YOU ARE A GENIUS.

I think I’ll try the hat on later and see if I can deal with it shorter, and if not, I’ll probably use a bit of the O-wool shown to fill in the last color. Or, I might just repeat the final gradient color throughout the crown shaping. WHAT WOULD YOU GUYS DO? #overthinkingthis

Bye, bye, Babe.

In other news, there’s a very good chance we’ll be moving to a smaller apartment in the near future, so a massive destash is in order. One thing I’m letting go of is my first wheel, the Babe Double Treadle Production. I’ve had it since 2012, it’s a great starter wheel and its Irish tension makes it good for plying. It’s also very lightweight and travels well because it is made of PVC. It retails for $320, I’m asking $225 or best offer. In addition to the wheel, check out my Ravelry trade page for lots of lovely yarns. I literally exported my yarn stash to a spreadsheet and ruthlessly went through highlighting items for destash: anything without a concrete plan or an unhealthy level of emotional attachment had to go.

It’s a sunbeam party.

The kitties approve of my destash plan. Less yarn in the house means more room for lounging.

Happy weekend!

WIPWed #90: Knit Therapy

Posted on May 6, 2015 by shoelaceswitcher

You know it’s been a rough week when chocolate has become a food group, am I right?! There’s a particular kind of low-level, constant stress around here that is just plain unpleasant and not healthy. Give me a crisis I can face and just get over already, man. The day-to-day grind is what really wears a girl down. Good thing there’s knitting, huh?

Rotted Days: I began this shawl as a special treat after a particularly bad day. I was inspired by April’s handspun version and her #handspunchallenge (the challenge being to actually knit something out of your handspun) over at WithWool. Even though keeping track of short rows tends to irritate me, I really like the look of Stephen West’s Dotted Rays pattern and couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I gave in. I think my BFL handspun is really well balanced by the dark purple contrast (hand-dyed but commercially spun) yarn. On its own, I think the handspun would be a little too… sugary sweet? Sparkly? Floofy? With the deep purple, it becomes just a little more sophisticated. And seeing as I finished these skeins over a year ago, I figured it was high time to knit them up!

Mom’s Flocked Socks:

Mom’s socks are progressing nicely, I’m nearing the point where toes need to happen. Which is good, because I’m also quickly approaching the point where they need to be in the mail. Chances are, she’ll get these a little late, but what’s a day or two, right?

Spinning:

I found this lovely spindle in a destash on Ravelry and couldn’t help myself. I love the blush of pink in the wood of the whorl. It’s a Tibetan style support spintle from TinasAngoras, who apparently doesn’t make this style anymore. The whorl is made from flame box elder and the shaft is made from redheart wood. It’s spins beautifully, I’m working on some sample wool that the kind destash-er included.

Books:

I’m still working on the same books I was reading last week, however, my decluttering efforts mean that I’m destashing couple of bundles of knitting- and spinning-related books.

Knitting-related

Spinning-related

Send an e-mail to alicia at woolendiversions dot com if you’re interested in any of these. I’d prefer to sell them as bundles ($30 for each set of 4, which includes priority shipping to US) but will split up for $10 each if there’s interest. The knitting-bundle includes A Gathering of Lace, The Knitter’s Life List, Knitting Plus, and Custom Knits while the spinning-related bundle contains Pure Wool, The Ashford Book of Carding, The Field Guide to Fleece, and a handy booklet with DVD about spinning on a Turkish spindle, from Wanda Jenkins.

Knitter’s Pride Karbonz

Susan Bates sock set

Kollage square needles

Size US 6 Chiagoo and Clover

I’m also destashing extra needles. I have 2 sets of Knitter’s Pride Karbonz needles (size 2.00 mm and 2.25 mm), one Knitter’s Pride Karbonz fixed circular in size US 4, an unopened pack of Susan Bates aluminum DPN’s in a variety of sock sizes, one set of Kollage Square metal needles in 2.75 mm, 2 pairs of US 6 fixed circular needles (one Chiagoo and one Clover), and not pictured are two sets of US 9 aluminum fixed circular needles (one 16″ and one longer, 24-32″). Send a note to the same e-mail as above and make me an offer if you’re interested!

I’m also selling a guitar, which is likely a long shot on a knitting blog, but you never know. Crafty people are often musical, plus my car’s about to die and the down payment on a replacement isn’t going to pay itself! I bought it new for $130 in 2008, played it gently for about a year, and it has sat in its case ever since. It comes with a stand, a pick, and a dusty-yet-serviceable, hand-me-down guitar case. As above, make me an offer, and leave a comment if you have any questions!

That’s all from me this week. I better get back to knitting before I try to sell any more of my stuff… Linking up with Yarnalong and Stitch Along Wednesday!

WIPWed #88: The Toes Are the Best Part

Posted on April 22, 2015 by shoelaceswitcher

I love sock toes so much because they mean the end of the sock is near (when knit top-down, anyway) and that means my feet will soon have a lovely new bit of wool to wear. I love them a little bit less when I have to re-knit them over and over, but I could avoid that issue if I planned things out beforehand rather than just winging it. All that is to say, I’m nearly done with my socks!

Tropical Traveller:

WIPWed #88: The Toes Are The Best Part | Woolen Diversions

My camera did not love this colorway today.

I had intended to try out a new-to-me toe from Lara Neel’s Sock Architecture book (with measurements and everything!) but when it came to toe time, I was lazy and just started knitting. Which meant I ended up re-knitting a couple of times. In the end, I did 5 plain rows, 3x of decrease row + 2 plain rows, 5x of decrease row + 1 plain row, then a final decrease and kitchener stitch. Things would likely have been much simpler if I just followed someone else’s instructions!

MalMarch Sundry:

Loving that houndstooth.

Since the socks were nearing a tricky bit, I picked up my easy shawl again for office/meeting knitting. I’m really digging the slipped garter stitch that’s going on here and I have plans to borrow it for a design that’s been brewing for a while. Hopefully I’ll find time to develop that past the ‘general idea’ stage sooner than later. The shawl is nearly 2/3 done, once those wee balls of yarn are finished I continue with another ball of the indigo colorway until it nearly runs out, then bind off. Getting there!

#MegaSAL Magrat:

Blurry, unlovely photo of truly lovely spinning.

Besides my afternoon of spinning on Sunday, I haven’t picked up the spindle much this week. I’ll have to remedy that, if I ever want to finish this yarn! Plus, I went all #KonMarie on my fiber stash and was slightly horrified at seeing everything piled all together like this:

WIPWed #82: The Toes Are the Best Part | Woolen Diversions

The horror!

Yeah, that’s a lot of fiber. I will caveat that photo by saying that nearly all of the Louet North America fiber bagged int he middle was sent to me for blog review or as #Spinzilla prizes (which is incredibly generous of them!) and a good chunk of the rest of it was gifted (namely the huge balls of Romney roving in bags, the box of locks I really need to get around to washing, and several of the braids in the middle). But I can’t deny that all the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin’ Whorl Club, Three Waters Farm, Bee Mice Elf, and Sweet Georgia fiber were my fault. SORRY, NOT SORRY. It’s lovely stuff. But anyhow, I boxed up a bunch of things that no longer ‘sparked joy’ and will be sending them off to a friend in the spinner’s guild if she wants them to experiment with, as she’s a newer spinner. Then, I went all #KonMarie on my yarn stash, too.

So I’m destashing (again). You can find details on my Ravelry trade page but most things are priced at a steep discount, and if you purchase more than one listing you get an extra 10% off. To make the destashing more efficient, I’ve grouped some of the skeins together into bundles (pictured above) that are even more heavily discounted. So if you’re into laceweight, or sock yarn, or Malabrigo, or KnitPicks, or Berroco, or farm yarn — there’s a bundle for you. Either message me through Rav or send an e-mail to alicia at woolendiversions dot com.

As for this week’s reading, I’m still working my way through the #KonMarie’s Ode to Tidying and the 7th Outlander book, An Echo in the Bone. I’ve also been listening to Nation by Terry Pratchett. It’s an interesting, non-Discworld novel about an island nation that experiences a huge tidal wave and the one surviving boy who deals with the aftermath. It’s a very different style from his Discworld books, though still fantasy-like.I am enjoying the storyline and I’m seeing some hints of the ideas he developed in his The Long Earth series, as well. I’m going to need some new audiobooks to listen to soon, though. I’ve been waiting for the Divergent series to become available from the library but haven’t had luck yet. What would you recommend for listening?

Linking up with Yarnalong and Stitch Along Wednesday. Also, I wanted to thank you all for your encouraging comments on my last post. It helped me process things to let off a little steam here, and I appreciate your kindly listening!

2015 First Quarter Plans

Posted on January 5, 2015 by shoelaceswitcher

Last week we discussed the knits I finished in 2014, and the intention words around which I’ve chosen to focus my year. I also mentioned needing a ‘plan of attack’ for my WIPs and yarn stash. For the stash, I’ve ruthlessly gone through and and either donated or put up for destash all of the skeins that I don’t foresee using anytime soon. (If there’s anything in my regular stash that you’re interested in, feel free to inquire as well, I might be persuaded to let it go.) For the WIPs, I’ve decided to split the year up into quarters (3 month chunks) and have listed a 5 ‘new’ projects (began since Dec 2014), 4 sock WIPs, and 3 other WIPs (projects begun prior to Dec 2014) to work on each quarter.

Knitting plans for Jan – Mar.

Let me tell you, when you only allow yourself a certain number of projects to knit at a time, it really forces you to choose wisely! I’ve given careful thought to the yarns I want to work with, the variety of projects I like on my needles, and the finished objects I’m anxious to wear to sort out my lists. I have not planned out every new project through the entire year, but I did assign all my WIPs to each quarter so I will at least be required to either finish them or frog them at some point soon. The above photo represents my first quarter knitting plans (minus 2 sock WIPs that I forgot to pull out).

New Projects:

Camelot Monkeys – Monkey socks, knit with Barking Dog Yarns Opposites Attract
Garnet Filemot – Filemot shawl from Hunter’s new Curls book, knit with VG Zaftig
Yak Ecclefechan – Ecclefechan Mitts, knit with Bijou Basin Ranch Himalayan Trail (as discussed for Inspiration Saturday)
Thrummed Slippers – Cadeautje, knit with handspun Spinzilla Jacob
Yaksi Cancan – French Cancan shawl, knit with BMFA Yaksi

Sock WIPs:

Alchemy – pattern of my own design, knit with BMFA Heavyweight
Blue Loasa – Loasa lateritia socks, knit with BMFA Mediumweight
Mom’s Flocked Socks – Flocked Socks, knit with Miss Babs Yummy 3-ply
Lillypad Take Two – pattern of my own design, knit with VG Bugga

Other WIPs:

Overdyed Cypress – Cypress vest, knit with overdyed BMFA Twisted
Deep Dark Stellaria – Stellaria shawl, knit with VG Codex
Kelp-y Kelpie – Kelpie shawl, knit with BT Loft and a Black Trillium gradient kit

Phew! I bet you guys are sick of lists by now, but I have one more.

Spin the Bin 2015

This year’s CTA Spin the Bin Challenge! The idea for this challenge is to pull out 12 ‘types’ of fiber from the depths of your stash, put them in a bin, and commit to spinning the whole shebang this year. This helps a spinner stay focused when the shiny, new, colorful braids are being too tempting. You only need to count 2 oz as one ‘type’ of fiber, so it’s easy enough to spread large bunches of fiber out over several categories, and it doesn’t mean that you can’t spin new fiber, just that you also commit to spinning up some of what you’ve had for a while. Here are my 12 types, many of which have been lingering in stash since 2012.

Spin the Bin 2015:

Loop! Kermit Coordinate Bump – 5 oz
TwoSistersStringworks Gotland in Rime – 4 oz
TwoSistersStringworks Gotland in Canopy – 4oz
BMFA Sheep 2 Shoe Kit in Single Cell Dating Pool – 4 oz
BMFA Sheep 2 Shoe Kit in Single Cell Dating Pool – 4 oz
Woolgatherings Polwarth/Silk – 4 oz
Woolgatherings Polwarth/Silk – 4 oz
Woolgatherings Polwarth/Silk – 4 oz
BFL x Cormo locks – 2 oz
BFL x Cormo locks – 2 oz
BFL x Gotland locks – 2 oz
BFL x Gotland locks – 2 oz

As you can see, I’m taking what are really 7 different fiber stash entries and spreading them out over the 12 ‘types’ for the year. There are plenty of other things I want to spin this year, but these bin spins are on the list because I don’t want to keep putting them off, especially the BFL cross locks. I’ve only committed to the minimum for those fibers, since I’m considering washing and prepping them by hand to be part of the challenge for me. Plus, I have a full pound of each and I’m not yet sure what I want to do with all of it, the goal this year is just to sample them.

And those are all of my lofty plans! If I manage to accomplish all of my first quarter knitting and the first three Spin the Bin goals, I will have used up 20 skeins of yarn and 13 oz of fiber. Not bad, right? Here’s hoping I can make it!

FOFri #29: Out with the Old

Posted on March 14, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

First news first: I’m having a big ol’ destash on Ravelry at the moment.

Click for Ravelry destash.

The realities of the wedding budget are settling in and I’m sacrificing yarn-y goodness for the success of my future marriage (hahaha so dramatic). But for real, I’m selling a lot of yarn. I have 50 listings on my trade page including Knit Picks, Malabrigo, Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Cephalopod Yarns, Verdant Gryphon, Sanguine Gryphon, Madelinetosh, and many other lovely skeins. I am open to inquiries about items on my regular stash page, as well. (Though I reserve the right to decline if the yarn is in use or has plans.) Prices are listed on each stash page and include multi-skein discounts and US shipping. If you purchase multiple listings, I’ll take an additional 5% off the total. Also willing to ship internationally at cost.

Phew! Enough of that. Check out my finished object for this week:

Itty bitty teeny tiny yarn.

It’s the ittiest bittiest, teeniest tiniest skein of the thinnest yarn I’ve ever spun. If it were a full 4 oz braid and not just a sample, I would’ve ended up with 560 yards of 2-ply — that’s a light fingering weight! How did I spin such a thin yarn, you ask?

TexasJeans purpleheart Tibetan spindle.

With a gorgeous new addition to my spindle collection! The Spindle Candy board is a dangerous place to hang out, let me tell you. People raved and raved about these TexasJeans supported spindles and when I saw one pop up for sale in purpleheart, I couldn’t resist. If spinning in general is like magic, then supported spinning is like the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It’s magic on steroids. It doesn’t seem like it should be possible to just spin this pointy stick in a bowl and create yarn, but it totally is, and it’s awesome.

Spinning bunnyfluff.

I’m now using it to spin angora bunny fiber, which is exactly the type of short, delicate fiber that would be difficult to spin on a drop spindle but perfect for a supported spindle. I’m collecting a bunch of links to helpful videos and tutorials that I’ll post about sometime in the future but believe me — supported spindling is fun!

That’s all from me this week. 🙂 Hope you have a great Friday! Check out more FOs at Tamis Amis.