Knit My Dog

to learn how to spin?

Last Saturday I had an hour to kill in Portland so I went into the Portland Fiber Gallery & Weaving Studio to see what they are all about. I figured start close to home and see what is out there. Maybe find out about wheels, maybe take a class, and at least get to fondle some fiber. There was a beginning spinning class going on right then! After talking with the owner, I decided to join the class but have a private lesson for my first class since I missed the first one. So today I arrived at the shop, she had a wheel set up for me, and I spun and learned. We get to take the wheels home between classes and even have homework! I'll get to try a variety of wheels which is why I like this class. My homework is to spin onto two bobbins, two different colors. Next up: plying.

I'm really enjoying this new fiber obsession. I feel the wheel calling me from the other room. What if I spin up everything she gave me by tonight? What do I do until next week? Alright, I'll slow down.

A picture of Timmy in his new birthday hat:

He spent the night last weekend and we took him to a Japanese hibachi restaurant for his birthday. Even let him order a Shirley Temple and filet mignon. I guess that's what aunts and uncles are for!

Posted by Brenda at 04:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This is a week of firsts for me. I learned how to spin on a drop spindle and spun my first yarn. Then, with that lumpy, uneven yarn, I made something from it. Something I will actually wear! I think I've caught the spinning bug. I was worried about this. That once I learned to spin, my knitting would sit unfinished and ignored while I spun, spun, spun. Alright, we're in the honeymoon phase, my spinning and I. But I do see this evolving into a longterm relationship.
Here they are, handspun, handknit handwarmers:

Of course, I'm holding my new spindle with more yarn spun from "bubblegum" roving from Amy.

I went to Chicks with Sticks the other night to meet up with the wonderful Julie again because I had so much fun with her at SPA. I also got to meet Sheepish Annie in the flesh! We had a great time, I met some wonderful knitters, and Annie even gave a drop spindle demo per my request. I'm trying to absorb all that I can about spinning right now. Once that door opened to me, I pushed it wide open!

Posted by Brenda at 07:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Look, I made yarn!

I went to SPA yesterday just for the day. I went by myself since the only other knitaholics I "know" are bloggers, and I met up with Julie. It was great to meet her and some other bloggers. I didn't know it when I arrived, but yesterday turned out to be the day I learned to spin! I think it was all of those spinning wheels and fiber flying around. I just couldn't resist. I bought a Turkish spindle from Amy along with some Romney. Gina was teaching Julie how to use her spindle, I was watching, and then I just had to walk around the corner into the vendor area and purchase my very own spindle. So much for my "no purchases in 2007" thing. I blew that right out the window yesterday. Oh well, I'll get back on the wagon from now on. I also met Heather, Ericka, Chris, Carol and Vicky, who helped me with my pathetic spinning abilities.

They had door prizes. Lots of door prizes. They drew about 10 or 15 names every few hours for some wonderful donated fibery goodness. I won!!! (I never win.) I won some beautiful Tussah silk from Sliver Moon Farm. It's so soft and plush, I've just been sticking my hand into the middle of it and squshing it around. I guess the spinning was just meant to be because now I have to figure out how to spin the silk.

Here's the haul:

From left to right: Romney in "Bubblegum" and Turkish spindle from Spunky Eclectic, Tussah Silk in "Smoky Plum", and practice roving from Spunky Eclectic (Amy just gave me all of this to try out). I love the yarn I made! Of course, spinning will probably turn out to be my newest obsession. I've been afraid that if I learn how to spin, I won't have time to knit anymore. We'll see what happens.

Posted by Brenda at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Eating a lobster is not for the faint hearted. First there is the whole boiling-while-live thing. Then there are the shells. And the goo. And the stinky mess that needs to be cleaned up, especially when the pot boils over on the stove (which seems to happen just about every time we cook them).

Last night we finally got our Valentine's lobster. We had to delay because of the storm on V-Day. Howie picked them up on the way home from work yesterday. He got four 1.5 pounders. That's a lot of lobster for two people. But when I eat lobster for dinner, that's all I like to eat. Lobster dipped in butter.

Did I mention he got hard shell lobsters? The lobsters molt every year, shed their skin and grow another one. So you can buy a lobster with a really hard shell that hasn't molted yet. Or you can buy a soft shelled lobster who's shell is like paper. You can just peel it off. I like the taste of a hard shell lobster. The meat is sweeter and it's usually full of meat because it has just about outgrown it's home. The problem lies in getting through the shell to eat the meat. In years past I've even gone out to the driveway with a hammer to open lobster shells.

We finally have what we think are the best lobster crackers. Not your typical vise-like cracker to squeeze the shell, but a pair of serious scissors that cut through the shell and expose the meat. Well, I had a little problem with my first claw and ended up with this:

It didn't stop me or even slow me down. I was a total mess anyway so I just kept on with my lobster. They were delicious! Howie lets me pick which one I want to eat so I was sizing them up while they were in the sink crawling around (I told you it's barbaric). I chose the lefty - the one with the left handed crusher claw. I'm left handed, and I figured it was just the proper thing to do. Mine was sweeter and much tastier than the right handed one. On the second round, the lefty was sweeter too (he had ended up with two lefties and two righties - what are the chances?). All in all, it was another successful lobster feast.

I'm off to SPA today for the day so hopefully there will be knitting content tomorrow.

Posted by Brenda at 07:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Since I saw the stitch over at nona's, I've been thinking of the string of purls. The stitch is brilliant and I love the way it brings color AND texture into the fabric.

My first attempt at the stitch in the round. It's not perfect, but it works for this hat:

It's a birthday present for my nephew - favorite color: yellow.
The blue is Lamb's Pride worsted, the yellow is some leftovers from a long forgotten project.
Cast on 84 stitches on number 8 needles.
Besides the string of purls, my favorite design element is the brim. I started out will a rolled brim (after typing that word twice it sounds weird to me - brim, brim, brim), but I wasn't sure that I really wanted it to roll. I hate the way some rolled edges just keep on rolling. Then the hat is half way up your head and you have a thick tube riding above your ears. Ribbing just didn't do it for me for this hat either. So I did a reverse hem. I just let it roll for about 10 rows of stockinette and then on the next row, picked up one cast on stitch and knit it together with one stitch from the needle. So there is a rolled brim feel, but it lays flat and it won't roll up anymore. It's now my newest favorite hat brim!

Today we woke to snow and the forecast says it will snow until tomorrow morning! Finally some wintry weather. I had the day off and Howie is taking the day. A snowy Valentine's Day home with your sweet husband, what could be better? (I guess is could be better if the roads were ok to drive to the fish store and buy our lobsters that we ordered. Lobster dinner is our V-Day tradition in this house, but it will have to wait until Friday night at this point.)

Posted by Brenda at 08:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Before I discovered knitblogs I was knitting in a vacuum. I've been knitting for years and I have some friends that knit, but I just went about my merry way, finding patterns at local shops, knitting what I saw that I liked . I didn't belong to any knitting group or guild. I'd knit for myself, my family and friends. It was a hobby that I found relaxing and enjoyable. Sometimes I'd make up my own patterns or alter an existing pattern to fit my needs. If there was something I didn't understand, I'd try to figure it out by myself or I would improvise.

Take socks, for example. I know that every sock pattern tells you to graft the toe stitches. I once looked up Kitchener stitch in one of my books. There was NO WAY I was going to take the time to figure that out. It was on the toe. Of a sock. That resides in my shoe. So I improvised. I did a three needle bind off. On every pair of socks that I knit. I think they look neat and are functional. The worst part about it was shoving the whole sock inside that little opening to turn it inside out before performing the bind off. But I worked that out too. I was content in my knitting.

See? Jaywalkers with a three needle bind off toe:

Fast forward to this year. From reading assorted blogs, I've come to the conclusion that everybody uses the kitchener stitch to finish socks. Everybody but me that is. So I figured that I should take the plunge and learn how to do it the "right" way. And of course, there are a million tutorials out there to help me instead of some confusing diagram in the back of a knitting book. Today I sat in the dining room with the bright sunlight shining in and my laptop tuned in to a Knitty tutorial. I got out the tapestry needle and went to it. There was a moment in the middle when I knew I did something wrong, so I took all of the stitches out and started again.

One completed and kitchenered Terrapin sock:

It's a little wonky, and I'm not sure I like it any better than my old bind off, but I'll let you know my final thoughts after I finish the second sock.

Today I also started a hat for my nephew's birthday using the "String of Purls" stitch that I saw over at Nona's. Her hat inspired me to look up the stitch and make my own pattern. I'm about half way into the hat and I think he's going to love it.

I don't know why I was so late to the knitblog party. I only discovered them a little over a year ago. I think of all of the things I have learned and the people I have "met" and realize that it changed the way I approach knitting. So thanks.

Posted by Brenda at 09:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

It sets in around this time every year. Maybe it's the lack of light. Maybe it's the cold. All I know is that I'm tired. My normal routine wears me out. I don't want to clean up the dishes. I don't want to do the laundry. Lugging wood? Forget it, we won't have a fire tonight. And the knitting suffers too. I haven't worked on my lace shawl for a while. I have one sock almost done (I've been knitting it for about a month). Pathetic!

I have a baby gift to get started on (baby's already here), and a hat to knit for a birthday gift (birthday is one week away). And yet, I find that I'm drawn to surfing blogs or sitting in front of the TV.

I know, I just got back from Florida and I should be rejuvenated and ready to go. I think my problem is that I treat sick kids all day long. They cough and sneeze on me. I have to peer into their mouths. And they just keep coming. There is so much sickness out there maybe my defense is to reserve my energy, both mental and physical, in case one of those nasty viruses decides to set up shop in my body.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Did I show you this yet?

I knit it about a month ago back when I was felting-obsessed. It fits perfectly and I wear it into the hot tub on cold nights. Howie volunteered to take my picture while I was in the hot tub but I opted for the indoor shot instead.

Posted by Brenda at 08:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)