Swatches, swatches everywhere... and now I need a drink!

I'm trying (trying being the operative word here) to get on with the 'Elegant Drape Cardigan' from Creative Knitting. Tension has never before frustrated me like this! I did my yarn research and made sure that I matched weight, etc (I'm using Sublime Aran merino/silk/cashmere in the colour of 'Mole') and obediently set about with my tension square this afternoon.

I'm looking for 18 stitches per centimetre, using 5mm needles, and in the first attempt got 22-odd. Okay, so I upped the needles to 5.5mm and managed to get around 20 stitches per centimetre. Getting there. Third attempt, on 6mm needles got me 18. Finally.

Then I washed the swatch.

As my sister Lucy would say, 'Cheese and Rice'! The fabric stretched out to give me 16 stitches per centimetre, much to my chagrin. So, based on all the evidence before me in the form of three swatches, I began a fourth, back on the 5mm needles.

Today's lesson? Wash EVERY swatch, EVERY time. I feel a bit stupid having learned this lesson through trial and error even though I've read this rule something like a million times, but as I tried to explain to my family tonight:

"Yarrgh, knitting - she be a harsh mistress"

I mean, If I were a knitting pirate, I'd be saying stuff like that all the time.

In happier news, I completed My First Socks last night and wore them proudly everywhere today. I think I needed a badge that read, "I'm wearing hand-knit socks. Ask me how!"Here, you can see WonderBoy helping me model my lovely lolly-stripe socks. Incidentally, later today when I started swatching for the drape cardie, he came to me, picked up the skein of Sublime and rubbed it against his cheek, saying "ohhh... pretty yarn". I asked him what it felt like, and he replied "Shampoo".

Shampoo indeed. Bless his little (hand-knit!) socks!

Happy Birthday, Dear Petey...

Before I go on to tell of my fibre-washing exploits today, I must send a quick shout out to my darling husband for his birthday. We're pretty sure it's his 33rd, but you couldn't look at that face and not tell me he doesn't look a day over 21? Of course not.

And so, here's to the guy who laughs at my ridiculous jokes, fears my dancing (both tap and orangutan dancing. I'm proficient at both.), tolerates my knitting and spinning... and most of all, loves me to bits.

Here he is, in all his husband-y glory. Let us all bask awhile.

Love you, honey!

And now, having lauded Pete for having a birthday today, I shall get on with the fibre-related content of this post.

I just updated my Facebook status with the following:

"Jennifer is washing her precious skein of handspun and hoping to God it doesn't felt."

Can I get an 'Amen' from any other spinners out there? I have been absolutely terrified with the mere thought of subjecting my yarn to water of any variety, let alone stinking hot water. I go into the laundry every ten minutes or so, just to check on the bucket, but I'm frightened to get too close, lest I breathe on the water in the wrong way, resulting in a wonderfully felted wreath.

I researched this step online for quite some time today, never quite finding a site with information I felt wholly comfortable about. I've read that I should have washed the fleece before spinning, that I should let the yarn soak in water of 70+ degrees Celsius and a cupful of dish detergent, then let it sit in barely body temperature water to rinse. I read I should plunge and beat the yarn with a potato masher (!) in very hot water, then rinse in cold.

I mean, I'm sure the person who wrote that last one knows what they're talking about but that scared the crap out of me. Tell me that's not an recipe for instant felting, go on... Can't do it? No, neither could I.

So as you can imagine, I was very pleasantly surprised (not to mention extremely relieved!) to see that the whole process seems to have worked! Here's the photographic evidence...These shots are of us going through the wash and rinse. Do note that for me, that first photo was totally brown-trousers time.

I have to say, I wasn't prepared for just how much dirt was going to come out of the yarn, I really wasn't. That mucky bucket photo was taken only five minutes after the yarn was submerged, and I'm certain that although the yarn looks and smells quite reasonable now, if I were to rewash the yarn it would probably make quite dirty water again.
It's turned out really quite nicely, the fibres are light and have fluffed up a little to make an attractive yarn. Now that the grease is out, I can see where I have underspun the ply (a fair bit in some places), but that's something that I can learn from and keep practicing as I go. I'm filling another bobbin as we speak (not literally - that would be fibre-talent to shout about - blogging and spinning at the same time!)...

Now that I've already found a pattern for the hat I want to make with this yarn, the big question is: do I do a rewash to be thorough, or do I get on and start swatching this stuff and working out gauge for the hat?

Brrrr! A quick post

First day of Term Two.

Windy like you wouldn't believe.

Cold as buggery!

Here is the sky, taken at Preschool. Not very indicative of the day, as the clouds were skidding across the sky so quickly, and the mood of the sky changes so often that you just don't see the rainstorm coming until you're drenched...

In the spin

I'm feeling quite pleased with myself this week; although the ironing basket is growing so fast that it seems destined to receive a postcode of it's own, I've managed to crack out the spinning wheel.

The fleece I bought at the Robertson Woolcraft Festival is spinning up quite nicely (or what I think of as nicely - I'm not that experienced!), and the colours are variegating themselves prettily - creams, greys and dark browns all in one fleece. I'm sure there are better spinners than I out there who would be separating the colours so they spin it into separate colour lots, but I quite like the way the colours have plied together, with a mottled effect. And so, here is not a fabulous photo, but a photo nonetheless of my recent spinning efforts:
In other news, I took WonderBoy up to the native botanic gardens near our home for a little adventure. He's pretty obsessed with water features, God bless him, and getting him past these was pretty difficult...

Like the Wiggles sherpa hat? He does...

Short post, I know... Not very knitterly, I know... but I am back into term time on Monday, so I'd better get used to this! And hey, there are only so many photos I can take of the second of My First Socks! I'm getting good progress on them, so it won't be long before I'm casting on anew!

And, before I go... Today is ANZAC Day, when Australians and New Zealanders remember the diggers who landed and fought at Gallipoli.

Lest We Forget.

I'm wearing a new hat.

But first, I managed to get the 'Hearts and Stars' blanket finished and blocked in time to take it up for darling Baby Ava (as WonderBoy insists on calling her) on Friday afternoon. Never thought it would take as long as it did to cast off in moss stitch. Yuck. But it's looking pretty good, yeah? The pattern called for 8-ply cotton, but I've gone with Shepherd 'Colour 4 Me' 100% Australian wool. It's washed beautifully, and it's very soft to the touch. And then the first of my first pair of socks. After several frogging issues, I've finally finished it... Now the My First Sock is complete, it's time for me to experience My First Bout of Second Sock Syndrome!
Second Sock Syndrome arrived promptly yesterday evening, when I pulled the skein of Rainbow Wools 'Popcorn' yarn from its carrybag, bought yesterday at the Robertson Woolcraft Festival... I cast on their lovely simple roll-brimmed hat pattern, and off I went.I knit in the car, all the way to and from visiting Ali and her husband, and their beautiful baby in Sydney, and I am pretty proud to say I finished it this afternoon. I've been wearing it ever since around seven this evening. I'm so pleased about how the colours worked out. There's no colour pooling at all, and having them all blend this way has almost made a whole new, subtle colour. I'm loving it something stupid.

Now I shall sing, and dance, and eat chocolate.

It sure ain't Sock Camp...

... but it sure was fun!

Leaving my husband and son with my parents-in-law, I headed out to Robertson today to check out the Woolcraft Festival.

I can't say I saw expecting a huge huge blowout... After all, this is a country town, and knitting, spinning and the like is only enjoyed by a very small (and quite probably elderly) portion of the population, right?Well, the sheep were there...

Not quite. I am very pleased to be able to say I had such a great time there, and I wish I could have hung around longer. I met up with Dianne, a fellow Raveler whom I have only spoken to online so far, and her husband. Dianne and I were able to talk properly about the possibilities for meeting up regularly for knitting sessions, and she was able to introduce me to some of the women who get together for a spinning group once a month. I was so excited to think I'm going to be able to hang out with 'my peeps' on a regular basis to learn and exchange more. Dianne's husband is a very lovely and supportive bloke who was determined to leave the Festival that day with a spinning wheel for Dianne, whether she thought she needed one or not!

I managed to talk spinning with the ladies Dianne introduced me to, and Joan in particular, who helped me select my first fleece that would be best for a beginner like myself. It was like a Mission: Impossible, with Joan ferreting through bags and asking me about colours and textures while trying not to make it look like she was 'telling' me what to buy. I'm proud to say that this gorgeous four-and-a-half kilo bag of Merino X was suggested by me with a little bit of guesswork (hell, I didn't know what I was doing!), and it turned out to be an excellent choice, apparently!Here's my score, arranged quite artfully I think, with our fish helping out with decoration. Thanks, Jack White.

I was able to ask questions (I learned heaps, just by asking people questions!), and I networked quite a bit. I met up with Melanie of Rainbow Wools, who was very interested in Ravelry and in the possibility of a local Stitch and Bitch being started. From her I bought this delicious hand dyed number, which came with some free patterns for hats, scarves and the like. Good one-skein stuff. I was thinking scarves, but when Melanie's mum put the hat on to model for the fashion parade, I was sold. A hat it shall be!And then I'll buy more for a scarf, of course.

It's knitting up so soft and the colours are just yummy. I'm supposed to be working on the mate for my current pair of socks (hello, second sock syndrome!), but I just couldn't help but cast this on tonight. Nice stuff.

These slivers, from Freelance Fibres, caught my eye (ok, more like grabbed and held it hostage) just for their beautiful colours (baby alpaca and silk). But they are to be put away for now, until I feel I'm practiced enough to use them. I'm considering them something for me to be aiming for.
Ah, we all must have goals and dreams to aspire to!

Oh, I am SO knitblogging this

I have lived in hope, waiting for there to be some sort of fibre-related event to be held within cooee of my location.

I feel so gypped when I read of the Yarn Harlot's exploits at various festivals, like Rhinebeck or the Sock Camp organised by Blue Moon Fibre Arts (you have got to check out this entry on her blog, about Sock Camp - oh, I want to be there!), cause there just isn't that equivalent held near me... well, not that I know about. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places. Maybe I'm being silly, wishing for these things to happen near me rather than travelling. Dunno... I'm just in a stage of life right now where I can't just can't drop everything and chase fibre across the state. I know, I know, I'm just not putting in the effort!

But then today, I checked Ravelry (instead of knitting the Stars and Hearts Blanket) and my friend Dianne (check out her blog here!) mentioned the Robertson Woolcraft Festival. Did I know it was on this weekend? Hell, no I didn't!

I'm so excited. There's going to be speed knitting competitions, spinning, and fleeces for sale. And although I know that the majority of people there will be considerably older than me - actually, I don't know this for certain. Maybe it's a stereotype in my mind built on things I know about our area that will be well and truly shattered on Saturday - maybe there will be younger people I can connect with? I love thinking of all the potentials for the day. I'm hoping to get a stitch 'n' bitch group going in my local area, so this could be a good starting point...

Watch this space for photos of the day!