Knit Flix

HKF

2012-01-27T08:16:00.001-08:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing cotton blend socks.

Primavera socks
Project details on Ravelry

Sunday snapshots

2012-01-22T16:18:00.000-08:00

Wind and rain outside, cookies and coffee inside. Inside wins.

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

The recipe is from Quaker Oats: Chewy Choc-Oat-Chip Cookies. I substitute dried cranberries for raisins.

The tomato seedlings are doing well. It's been 2 weeks and you can see the second set of leaves emerging.

Heirloom tomato seedlings

HKF

2012-01-20T07:13:00.000-08:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing entrelac socks. Fancy!

A Step Above socks
Project details on Ravelry

The Monarchs are here! The Monarchs are here!

2012-01-16T18:10:00.000-08:00

It just occurred to me that the title of this post might mean something completely different to those in the UK, Canada, Australia, and other parts of the world. lol. This post is about the Monarch Butterflies overwintering in California.

Pacific Grove is well known for this annual event, but there are other locations in California where the butterflies hang out in the winter months. Why the locations are chosen by the butterflies is a topic of research, but all of the sites have a few things in common: mild winter temperatures, Eucalyptus groves for overwintering, Milkweed for the larvae to eat, and flower nectar in the Spring for the new adult butterflies to eat.
Wikipedia: Monarch (butterfy)

Ardenwood Historic Farm has a Eucalyptus grove where the Monarch butterflies overwinter and this year there are ~10x more Monarchs than last year. The admission for Ardenwood is only $2 for adults and they have guided walks to learn about and see the clusters of butterflies, or you can view them on your own.

Monarch Butterfly Walks at Ardenwood Farm

Ardenwood has the early stages of the Monarch life cycle on display in their greenhouse (click on a photo to see a larger image):

Monarch larvae (caterpillar) feeding on Milkweed

Monarch larvae (caterpillar) and chrysalis

Clusters of butterflies are in the Eucalyptus grove. I wish I had a tripod and a lens that would allow me to get "closer".

Monarch Butterfly cluster

The day we went was cool and cloudy, but at one point a few rays of sunlight hit the cluster and the butterflies became more active. There are thousands of butterflies in the grove all packed together in these clusters.

Monarch Butterfly cluster

Ardenwood is a working farm and holds special activities throughout the year like Sheep Shearing Day and the Harvest Festival.

Here are more sights from our visit to the farm--

What?

Up from an afternoon nap

Farm gear

Corn Sheller

Popcorn on the cob

The Spin-in

2012-01-15T18:01:00.000-08:00

Spinning, knitting, weaving, and socializing (and eating!) kept us engaged at Spinnity's Spin-in. It was nice to catch up with everyone in the new year.

Here are a few images from yesterday's gathering.

Spinning and Knitting

Knitting and Spinning

Weaving

Navajo Ply on the Fly

Laughing

Discussing

Exploring

Saturday snapshots

2012-01-14T20:27:00.000-08:00

It's in the rotation
Project details on Ravelry

Italian Cypress Villa

Who's that peeking out up there? I should have known. :(

The Penthouse

I can show the next project now that it has been gifted. It's 100% cotton woven in an 8 pick herringbone Fibonacci sequence. It's my first FO for 2012.

Herringbone Sequence

Herringbone Sequence
Project details on Ravelry

HKF

2012-01-13T07:17:00.001-08:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

On this second HKF of 2012, I'm wearing socks knit with handspun yarn and a hemp cardi.

Mars Mission socks
Project info on Ravelry

Basket Stitch Cardigan
Project details on Ravelry

HKF

2012-01-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing my Tahoe Broadripple socks. Did you know that golf courses are open in Tahoe right now? In January?? We need snow and rain. Come on Mother Nature, bring it on!

Tahoe Broadripple socks
Project details on Ravelry

Finishing WIPs... later

2012-01-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

I hope to finish all of my languishing WIPs in 2012, so can you guess what I did this week?

Ding! Ding! Ding! That's right, I started a new project! Those WIPs will just have to wait.

New Year's Day 2012

2012-01-01T16:38:00.000-08:00

Honeycomb towels
Project details on Ravelry

The Honeycomb towels took a trip through the washer and dryer and they're GREAT! They shrank beautifully and are really soft. I was worried that the towel body wouldn't shrink at the same rate as hem, but it did. Success.

Happy New Year!

HKF on S

2011-12-31T10:27:00.001-08:00

Ugh! After 209 Fridays of Hand Knit Friday blog entries, I missed one. All I can say is that I'm disoriented with the holidays. Well, I did wear hand knits yesterday (and I have witnesses).

If you saw me yesterday, you saw me wearing these:

Quilted Lattice Mitts
Project details on Ravelry

Have a safe New Year's Eve and a wonderful 2012!

Last FOs of the year

2011-12-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

I don't think I'm going to finish another project before Sunday, so here are my last FOs of 2011:

Honeycomb towels
Project details on Ravelry

I ran out of pale yellow 8/2 cotton, so I finished the last 2 towels in 8/2 cotton/linen. Those are the darker towels in the photo. They're hemmed, but not washed. Waffle weave should really be washed to finish and shrink the fabric, but I wanted to capture this moment just in case they don't look pretty after they're laundered.

The Gilmore is empty and ready for another project. I know what I'm going to make next, but I need to spend some time planning before I start warping.

HKF

2011-12-23T07:06:00.001-08:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today? I'm wearing

Alice

and

Laced-Up socks
Project details on Ravelry

and

Hooray for Urban Broads

Digits exposed

HKF

2011-12-16T11:33:00.001-08:00

It's better-late-than-never Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing entrelac. *Whew!*

A Step Above socks
Project details on Ravelry

HKF

2011-12-09T08:52:00.001-08:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'll be wearing Zingiber socks this afternoon.

Zingiber socks
Free knitting pattern

HKF

2011-12-02T08:13:00.000-08:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing my Hooray for Urban Broad convertible gloves/mitts and a crochet Timba hat.

Thumb exposed

Thumb covered
Project details on Ravelry

Timba hat
Project details on Ravelry

Nupp (rhymes with loop)

2011-11-26T09:30:00.000-08:00

Nupp (rhymes with loop) is a design element in Estonian lace that is worked like a bobble--increase 5 or 7 stitches and then purl those stitches together on the next row. I tried knitting a shawl years ago that had nupps and gave up almost immediately when I couldn't figure out how to perform the p7tog. The stitches were too tight.

Fast forward to a few months ago when I pulled The Haapsalu Shawl by Siiri Reimann and Aime Edasi from the bookshelf to admire the stitch patterns, then a few days ago when WonderMike tweeted about nupps. Nupps.

I reviewed this video of Nancy Bush demonstrating how to make a nupp--

Nancy makes it look easy, but of course she is Nancy Bush. Could a mere mortal create a nupp? And could that knitter create a nupp without a crochet hook or other means of assistance?

The answer is yes.

Silvia
Project details on Ravelry

The stitch pattern is Silvia Pattern 2 from The Haapsalu Shawl. The yarn is Fantastic Knitting Zephyr Laceweight 50% Merino 50% Silk in a color called Bottle Green. Haapsalu shawls are traditionally made using a finer 100% wool yarn in a neutral color, so this swatch is "inspired by" Estonian lace.

HKF

2011-11-25T08:55:00.001-08:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I got up early to support my LYS, Purlescence Yarns, and saved 40% on thousands of yards of laceweight yarn. Almost everything is marked down today, so stop by if you're in the area.

I'm wearing

Tahoe Broadripple socks
Project details on Ravelry

Propelled out of Funkytown

2011-11-23T11:33:00.000-08:00

I've been working on the list from funk-day and not only did it propel me out of funkytown, but I also got stuff done. Pretty cool.

Finish editing word doc.
So far so good, this one is progressing.
~~Make 3 more hats for the craft fair.~~
Finished! 8 hats are ready to go.

Timba hats
Finish waffle weave project & warp next project.
Finish writing one of the patterns designed/started.
I haven't worked on either of the items above.
~~Finish Navajo ply-on-the-fly spinning.~~
Finished! Thank you WonderMike, your class on this technique was excellent.

Navajo Ply on the Fly yarn
Work out.
I've been to the club for cardio, strength training, and tennis, so this one is a big win.
Bake something.
With Thanksgiving just hours away, this one hasn't been a problem at all. In fact, I'm even trying the Fresh-Frozen Pie technique from King Arthur Flour. Here's the pie I made last night:

Apple Cranberry Pie

Psych! It's frozen solid!

Apple Cranberry Pie

That pie is for later. There's one more Apple Cranberry Pie and a Pumpkin Pie for tomorrow.
Design something.
Nothing to speak of.
Clean something.
Nothing worth blogging about.
Blog - post photos taken earlier this year.
Nope.

Hey, I finished something

2011-11-20T13:47:00.000-08:00

Timba hats

Timba hats

8 things actually.

These are for the annual craft faire at work in a couple of weeks. If they don't sell, guess what everyone's getting for Christmas?

Just kidding. Maybe.

Fall color

2011-11-19T15:51:00.001-08:00

Pepper berries

Camellia

HKF

2011-11-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm keeping the blahs away with stranded colorwork socks. Thanks to everyone who has gotten in touch, I'm feeling much better now.

Fair Isle socks
Project details on Ravelry

In a funk

2011-11-16T14:44:00.000-08:00

I don't know what happened, but I must have tripped and fallen into a funk. I'm out of sorts and not motivated to do much. Maybe it's the moon, maybe it's the change in weather, I don't know.

So what am I doing here? I thought I'd post a list of things I'd like to do, a list to consult when I'm staring into space.

Finish editing word doc.
Make 3 more hats for the craft fair.
Finish waffle weave project & warp next project.
Finish writing one of the patterns designed/started.
Finish Navajo ply-on-the-fly spinning.
Work out.
Bake something.
Design something.
Clean something.
Blog - post photos taken earlier this year.

Make it so!

HKF

2011-11-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

On 11.11.11, I'm wearing socks knit with hand spun yarn.

Mars Mission socks
Project info on Ravelry

Going to battle

2011-11-06T17:03:00.000-08:00

That's how Robyn from King Arthur Flour described the mindset of home bakers as they prepare to roll out a pie crust.

I accepted the challenge.

I reviewed the recipe and the notes I took at the KAF live demo a couple of weekends ago. By the way, the recipe booklet is available online in PDF format. (I love the cup from Cost Plus, crochet sleeve not included.)

Getting ready

Then I assembled the ingredients. Today's pie has Granny Smith and Cameo apples.

Assembling the ingredients

I followed the recipe for the crust and added just enough water for the dough to hold together. I used the kitchen scale to help me divide the dough into 2 equal portions, then shaped them into disks and put them into the fridge to chill.

The pie filling was easy to mix together.

Apple pie filling

Now it was time to ~~tackle~~ roll out the crusts. Ugh.

Robyn made it look so easy compared to my previous attempts when the dough cracked and tore. Work quickly. Dust with flour. Roll from the center of the circle to the outer edge, but don't run the pin off the edge. Don't roll back and forth. Dust, flip, dust, roll. Lather, rinse, repeat.

hey, Hey, HEY!!! I did it! No cracking, no tearing. Get OUT!

Bottom crust

The top crust went just as well.

Looking good

It baked at 425 for 20 min, then I covered the edges with foil for the next 30 min at 375 degrees and removed the foil for the last 10 minutes.

Apple Pie!

It really looks like something. Even if it's apple soup inside, it'll be apple soup in a perfect pie crust. Waiting it to cool completely before cutting is incredibly difficult. Wow. I did it. Thank you Robyn & KAF!

HKF

2011-11-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits are you wearing today?

This cold and wet morning calls for the newly finished Quilted Lattice Mitts from Knit Purl Gurl's Spur of the Moment KAL.

Quilted Lattice Mitts
Project details on Ravelry

HKF

2011-10-28T07:27:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits are you wearing today?

I'm wearing a Lanaknits Hemp Cardi and socks made with yarn that I dyed using the Machine Knitting to Dye For technique.

Basket Stitch Cardigan
Project details on Ravelry

Dye-o-rama Socks
Project details on Ravelry

HKF

2011-10-21T07:21:00.001-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing PINK! socks.

Zigzag Lace socks

Spur of the Moment KAL

2011-10-16T17:58:00.000-07:00

Too many hats + too many balls of yarn = ?

A new project of course.

I joined Knit Purl Gurl's Spur of the Moment KAL, well, at the spur of the moment.

I'm using Miss Babs yarn I bought at Stitches West last year (thank goodness). Although I loved the look of Cleopatra in the hank, I was reluctant to knit it into socks. But this project uses just enough of the bold colorway to accent the Oyster MC.

Quilted Lattice Mitts
Project details on Ravelry

The Quilted Lattice Mitts knit up fast. I cast on yesterday and the first mitt is one thumb away from being finished. The KAL just started and goes until Nov 24. Care to join me?

HKF

2011-10-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing Laced-Up socks.

Laced-Up socks
Project details on Ravelry

HKF

2011-10-07T07:46:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing

Tahoe Broadripple socks
Project details on Ravelry

HKF

2011-09-30T07:59:00.001-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing Zingibers.

Zingiber socks
Free knitting pattern

Out with the old, in with the new (Part 1)

2011-09-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

Our backyard has gone through a few changes this month.

Now you see it

Now you don't

The tree guys arrived mid-morning and went straight to work.

And so it begins

Piece by piece

Canopy gone

All gone

The next day they came back with the stump grinder and annihilated the tree stump and the jade plant roots. R fixed the sprinkler line that was damaged in the process and this weekend we brought home two new trees from Los Altos Nursery, a Bartlett Pear and a 4-in-1 Cherry: Rainier, Bing, Stella, Black Tartarian.

New kids on the block

HKF

2011-09-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

A warm forecast on the first day of Autumn calls for cotton blend socks.

Primavera socks
Project details on Ravelry

Lucky number 7

2011-09-20T17:06:00.000-07:00

What are the chances I'd check Ravelry right when comments, favorites, and projects converged on #7? I don't know either.

Timba
Free pattern download [PDF]

HKF

2011-09-16T07:11:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

A well air conditioned office is an enabler for colorwork socks.

Fair Isle socks
Project details on Ravelry

Introducing Timba

2011-09-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

Timba
Free pattern download [PDF]

Timba is a design that was inspired by a woman who was passionate about the fiber arts. She often brought crochet projects to our local knit/crochet circle and was genuinely interested in and supportive of all who attended.

She recently lost her battle with breast cancer and her stash yarn is being used to make scarves, hats, and booties for a local organization that provides support to people touched by breast cancer.

Timba is a hat that I think she would like and was made possible through her stash yarn. The organization will be receiving a number of these hats to distribute.

Timba is worked from the bottom up and has a half double crochet brim that gently slopes to the body of the hat.

Size
Adult

Finished measurements
Hat circumference (excluding brim):
20 inches relaxed

Materials
1 skein Plymouth Yarns, Encore Colorspun Worsted (75% Acrylic, 25% Wool; 100 gm / 200 yd), Color 7139
1 crochet hook 5.5mm/I
Tapestry needle

Free pattern download [PDF]

Warning: This hat pattern may be habit forming.

Okay, maybe it's just me and maybe it's because I'm avoiding the other projects I have in progress but I'm working on my 5th Timba.

Or maybe it's because Timba is so quick to make. The other weekend, we went to SF to see Shakespeare in the Park. I started a Timba in the car on the drive up. By the time the cast was taking their final bows, the hat was finished and on my head. I estimate that it took less than 5 hours of actual crocheting time. It's not quite instant gratification, but in the world of knitting and crocheting, it's pretty close.

I'm fond of this cloche shape. I think it's flattering and surprise surprise, it's a hat that I enjoy wearing! You see, I'm not really a hat person because I don't think I look good in hats... but now that I've discovered this style, you may see me in a cloche now and then.

I can't end this blog post without mentioning Karen, without whom this pattern would not exist. We lost Karen to breast cancer this year. Her stash yarn is being used to make hats, scarfs, and booties for the Breast Cancer Connection in Palo Alto. Karen was an avid crocheter and it's fitting to have the first Timba go to the Breast Cancer Connection in her memory.

Last but not least, thanks to Abigail, Christina, Emy, Laura, and Tina who tested the pattern and made it better through their feedback and suggestions.

Okay, enough talk. I need to get back to #5.

HKF

2011-09-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing pink to show my support for Rachel who's walking in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure®. There's still time to pledge for Rachel's walk.

Go Rachel, go!

Zigzag Lace socks

HKF

2011-09-02T06:57:00.001-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing entrelac.

A Step Above socks
Project details on Ravelry

HKF

2011-08-26T08:11:00.001-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing Zingibers.

Zingiber socks
Free knitting pattern

HKF

2011-08-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing socks that were made just for me. :)

Socks from Mutare Posts

Oversized

2011-08-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

Sourdough Honey Wheat Bread--a traditional bread that requires kneading, rising, punching down, and rising.

Bread dough rising

I might have let the loaf rise a *tad* too long. I didn't factor in the oven spring.

Oversized

I was worried that the bread might have huge airholes or be dry on top, but neither was a problem. It toasts beautifully and takes the butter and apricot jam well.

Tasty toast

But when it came to putting the loaf away, it was too big for my normal bread container as well as just about every other container in the kitchen. The only one large enough was the bread flour canister. It won't be in here long.

Improvising

HKF

2011-08-12T11:16:00.001-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing bamboo/cotton socks.

Early Spring
Project details on Ravelry

24x7 Fiber Store

2011-08-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome to 24x7 Fiber! All fiber is hand dyed, one-of-a-kind, and processed with care using professional quality dyes.

Suggested care for all: Hand wash or machine wash gentle cold, using mild soap or wool wash. Air dry for best results.

Scroll down for store policies.

Superwash Merino base fiber: Louet 7.400. This is one of my favorite fibers to dye and spin.

Cool Chocolate, $19.95USD
4-1/4 oz braid of Superwash Merino Top is hand painted in shades of teal, chocolate brown and natural.

Superwash Merino-Bamboo-Nylon base fiber: Base Fiber: Ashland Bay Panda Superwash Merino-Bamboo-Nylon 60/30/10 Top. The fibers take up the dye at different rates with the bamboo adding shine. This fiber is incredibly soft in the braid and when spun.

Waves 2, $18.00USD
4 oz braid of Superwash Merino-Bamboo-Nylon Top hand painted in shades of green, blue, and yellow/brown.

Waves 1, $18.60USD
4-1/8 oz braid of Superwash Merino-Bamboo-Nylon Top hand painted in shades of green, blue, and yellow/brown.

Cool 1, $19.20USD
4-1/4 oz braid of Superwash Merino-Bamboo-Nylon Top hand painted in shades of pink, purple, and blue.

Superwash Blue Face Leicester base fiber: Ashland Bay Superwash Blue Face Leicester Top. A long staple makes this fiber easy to spin in a variety of ways.

Pansies 2, $16.50USD
4-1/8 oz braid of Superwash Blue Face Leicester Top hand painted in shades of pink, dark purple, green, and pale yellow.

Pansies 1, $16.00USD
4 oz braid of Superwash Blue Face Leicester Top hand painted in shades of pink, dark purple, green, and pale yellow.

Sierra, $16.00USD
4 oz braid of Superwash Blue Face Leicester Top hand painted in shades of purple, blue, green, and yellow/brown.

Guilded Sky 2, $16.00USD
4 oz braid of Superwash Blue Face Leicester Top hand painted in shades of magenta, teal, blue, and yellow/brown.

Guilded Sky 1, $16.00USD
4 oz braid of Superwash Blue Face Leicester Top hand painted in shades of magenta, teal, blue, and yellow/brown.

Laser 2, $15.50USD
3-7/8 oz braid of Superwash Blue Face Leicester Top hand painted in shades of red, purple, blue, and green.

Laser 1, $15.50USD
3-7/8 oz braid of Superwash Blue Face Leicester Top hand painted in shades of red, purple, blue, and green.

Roses & Chocolate 2, $16.00USD
4 oz braid of Superwash Blue Face Leicester Top hand painted in shades of pink, chocolate brown and natural.

Roses & Chocolate 1, $15.50USD
3-7/8 oz braid of Superwash Blue Face Leicester Top hand painted in shades of pink, chocolate brown and natural.

Love Me Baby, $17.00USD
4-1/4 oz braid of Superwash Blue Face Leicester Top hand painted in shades of magenta/purple, brown/yellow, green, and orange.

Shake it Up, $16.00USD
4 oz braid of Superwash Blue Face Leicester Top hand painted in shades of red, black, violet, and blue.

Shop policies:

PayPal payments are preferred.
Shipments to US addresses will be sent via USPS and shipping insurance is required.
Shipments to California addresses will be charged sales tax.
Shipments to International addresses will be sent via USPS First Class International. Shipping insurance and tracking are not available for International shipments.
Every attempt will be made to ship your order within 5 business days. I will contact you regarding order status if there will be a delay.
If you are dissatisfied with an item, contact me within 14 days of receipt. Items may be returned for studio credit for the price of the item if prior authorization is obtained and the item is returned in new condition. Shipping and insurance are not refundable. The buyer is responsible for return postage.
Items returned without prior authorization or not returned in new condition will not receive studio credit.

Fruit cocktail

2011-08-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

We cut down a tree in our backyard a few years ago--a messy tree that didn't provide much of anything other than aggravation --and today was the day to put something in its place.

We went back to Los Altos Nursery and Tyler & Darryl helped us pick out the perfect tree, a Fruit Cocktail tree. No, for real, this tree is a 4-in-1: Gold Dust Peach, Blenheim Apricot, Independence Nectarine, and Santa Rosa Plum. Pretty cool huh?

It was interesting driving home with about 4' of the tree sticking out of the back of the truck, but we got it home safely.

Fruit Cocktail Tree

I hope it likes its new home.

Planted

HKF

2011-08-05T07:10:00.001-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday. Let's see those hand knits!

I'm wearing

Tahoe Broadripple socks
Project details on Ravelry

A place in the sun

2011-08-03T07:45:00.000-07:00

We've been talking for months about building a raised bed planter in the backyard and thanks to R, it actually happened.

Last month we had these delivered--

Pallet o'pavers

Once the first course was in and level, the stacking went pretty fast (easy for me to say since I didn't do much of it). There was some chiseling involved to get the last block of each round to fit. We're fortunate to build this over an existing sprinkler head.

Raised bed in progress

Raised bed in progress

R filled it with a mixture of mulch & soil and the heirloom tomatoes grown from seed (I'm so proud of that) went right in. These are Mikado Violettor from Wintersown.org.

Heirloom Tomatoes in their new home

The raised bed looks pretty small in the photo above, but here's the view from the other side.

There's room for more

I planted seeds last Wednesday night and the seedlings were poking up a few days later. The radish seedlings appeared in 3 days! We haven't seen any carrots yet. Slackers.

Radishes

Kale

Squash

Yesterday, a co-worker and I visited her husband's business, Los Altos Nursery. As we walked between the rows and rows of plants, fountains, and garden ornamentals, I realized how much I missed my neighborhood nursery that closed years ago. No doubt it was pushed out by the big box stores.

Darryl helped me pick out plants that would do well in late summer/early fall and I came home with these:

Vegetables and herbs from Los Altos Nursery
Clockwise from far left: Yolo Wonder Pepper, Organic Bunching Onions, Bright Lights Swiss Chard, French Tarragon.

Everything went into the ground last night.

LAN vegetables & herbs in their new home

We got a late start, but I'm sure we'll have plenty to harvest this year.

Raised bed garden

Rosemary & Chive ABin5

2011-07-31T19:51:00.000-07:00

Every 3 months I get so busy at work that it becomes difficult to keep up with the normal household routine. Baking bread falls by the wayside and we end up eating store bought bread for a week or two.

I celebrated a lull in the work schedule by making a 1/2 batch of the master recipe from Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I adding fresh rosemary & garlic chives from the garden, about 2 tsps of each in the 2 lb batch of dough.

Like a good golfer, I "hit a provisional" and took a photo before baking just in case the rosemary on top burned to a crisp.

Rosemary & Chive ABin5 before baking

It smelled amazing while it was baking and turned out beautifully.

Rosemary & Chive ABin5

It makes wicked grilled cheese sandwiches and is a perfect pairing with lentil soup.

HKF

2011-07-29T07:21:00.001-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing socks knit with hand spun.

Mars Mission socks
Project info on Ravelry

HKF

2011-07-22T07:33:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing

Almost Baroque
Project details on Ravelry

Tour de Fleece Day 16

2011-07-17T20:41:00.000-07:00

Today I took a break from the Lendrum and took a spinning class. This was a raffle prize that my sister won at the Grand Opening for A Verb For Keeping Warm, a private 2 hour session with Michael Wade. She generously asked if it could be a 1 hour session for 2 people and when she got the okay, invited me along. Now how great is that?

But before the session started, we stopped at the shop that just opened next door to AVFKW, James & the Giant Cupcake. We sampled Love Potion and Salt Sea Caramel, then I got a box of four to go.

Cupcakes

Zingo, I was high on chocolate and icing and ready to spin!

Grace and I narrowed down the list of topics to bottom whorl/Turkish spindle spinning, horizontal drafting, Navajo plying on a spindle and Navajo plying on the fly. What a great session! We saw a variety of Turkish spindles and talked about the advantages and disadvantages (if any) of each design, I learned how to wind a cop properly, and Michael talked about different ways to initiate the spin.

The horizontal drafting was very cool. With a slight modification it made controlling the twist easier for me and I was able to handle my slippery Merino-bamboo blend better and not have my drop spindle drop to the floor.

I had never Navajo plied on a spindle before, so seeing how it was done and practicing a bit was very helpful. But the last technique totally blew me away--Navajo Ply on the Fly. You don't spin singles first and then transfer the singles off the spindle before plying. You start with singles and end up with plied yarn on your spindle. It's like magic. I'm going to finish spinning the Merino-Bamboo using this method.

If you want to learn cool drop spinning techniques, check the class schedule at A Verb for Keeping Warm. Michael is a great teacher and I recommend him highly.

I may be a spindle spinner yet. (Note, this is my first blog post tagged with the word "spindle".)

Thank you Grace & Michael, I had a great time and learned a lot!

Another favorite: Sourdough Biscuits

2011-07-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

The sourdough starter is a few weeks old and I think I'm getting my sourdough mojo back. This is the 3rd time I've made these biscuits and each batch is better than the last.

Sourdough Biscuits

They're delicious with butter and jam and they also make a great little sandwich bun.

Front: Strawberry-Olallieberry
Back: Peach

The starter is from Goldrush and the biscuit recipe is from the Carl Griffith 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter brochure.

HKF

2011-07-15T07:40:00.001-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing

Free Pattern

Tour de Fleece Day 11

2011-07-12T21:43:00.000-07:00

I thought for sure Bobbin 6 would be full on Sunday, but I just wasn't able to spend that much time with my wheel. After a day of rest, I was re-energized and able to finish the bobbin tonight.

Front to back: Bobbin 6 finished today, bobbin 5, bobbin 4.

I'll let #6 rest overnight and will ply these singles tomorrow. 652 gms of fiber have been spun and there's only 260 gms left to go.

Summer in a jar

2011-07-10T20:35:00.001-07:00

Nothing says summer like stone fruit.

Apricots

Jam captures summer in a jar.

Apricot Jam

Tour de Fleece Day 7

2011-07-08T22:50:00.000-07:00

It didn't occur to me that all of the posts about singles would look the same. I guess that's what happens when you spin 2 pounds of fiber. Oh well, it's a heck of a lot of spinning and I'm going to celebrate it in my blog. So there.

Another day, another bobbin!

Bobbin 5 on Day 7

HKF

2011-07-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

Warm temperatures = cotton blend socks.

Primavera socks
Project details on Ravelry

Tour de Fleece Day 6

2011-07-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

It's yarn!

3-ply yarn

287 gms of 10-11 wpi 3-ply. It's soft but it'll get softer after it takes a bath.

Tour de Fleece Day 5

2011-07-06T21:53:00.000-07:00

Today I finished bobbin 4 that I started yesterday. To go from this:

Bobbin 4 on Day 4

to this:

Bobbin 4 on Day 5

Took over an hour. Sheesh.

Now all my spinning bobbins are full so you know what that means--it's time to ply!

Tour de Fleece Day 4

2011-07-05T22:32:00.000-07:00

I wasn't able to finish the 4th bobbin today, but that's okay. I still met my goal of spinning every day.

Day 4:

Today's spinning

Tour de Fleece Day 3

2011-07-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to finish today's bobbin and still have light to take a photo. That was close.

Day 3:

Front: Today's spinning
Middle: Day 2's spinning
Back: Day 1's spinning

Olalalalala

2011-07-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

Olallieberries made an appearance at the Farmers' Market yesterday.

Strawberries and Olallieberries

Ooo, this should be good! Enjoy the 4th everyone.

Strawberry Olallieberry Jam

Tour de Fleece Day 2

2011-07-03T17:53:00.001-07:00

Each bobbin holds ~100 gms, so there will be 9 bobbins of singles. That's daunting, but I finished another today.

Day 2:

Front: Today's spinning
Back: Yesterday's spinning

Tour de Fleece Day 1

2011-07-02T16:26:00.000-07:00

Let the spinning begin!

This year I'm tackling 2 pounds of Ashland Bay Merino Tussah Top that I bought at Stitches West a few years ago. The target yarn is 12 wpi 3-ply. A handspun, hand knit sweater is in my future.

Tour de Fleece 2011

Day 1, bobbin 1:

HKF

2011-07-01T07:48:00.001-07:00

It's Hand Knit Holiday-Weekend-Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing socks made with yarn that I dyed using the Machine Knitting to Dye For technique.

Dye-o-rama Socks
Project details on Ravelry

Getting back in line

2011-06-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

This is the last week that the yellow Clean Air Vehicle stickers are valid California carpool lanes. Starting Friday I will have the pleasure of driving in the single occupancy lanes to and from work.

I'm not ready to shell out $$ for a new vehicle that will be eligible for the new sticker program, so it's back in line I go.

It was good while it lasted. Now I'll be able to catch up on my podcasts and audiobooks while I'm stuck in traffic.

No thanks to Arnold for allowing the current program to end.

Beauty shot

2011-06-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

Lisa Souza Merino/Bombyx Silk, Lychee
2-ply laceweight

Bobbin #1

The bobbins are empty and ready for the start of Tour de Fleece on July 2.

HKF

2011-06-24T07:32:00.001-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing entrelac.

A Step Above socks
Project details on Ravelry

More from the 24x7 Fiber Shop

2011-06-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

Along with Superwash BFL, I have Superwash Merino and Superwash Merino-Bamboo-Nylon in the 24x7 Fiber Shop.

The Superwash Merino is Louet 7.400, one of my favorite fibers to spin. So pretty.

Available Now: Cool Chocolate

The Superwash Merino-Bamboo-Nylon is 60-30-10 and the fibers take up the dye at different rates with the bamboo adding shine.

Available Now: Waves

Available Now: Cool

I spun 4 oz of the Cool colorway and it's really soft. I can't wait to knit a pair of socks out of this yarn.

Cool bobbins

Cool 3 ply

HKF

2011-06-17T07:44:00.001-07:00

For Karen...

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing the Leaf Lace Shawl.

Leaf Lace Shawl

Leaf Lace Shawl
Project details on Ravelry

My first Brioche on the needles

2011-06-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

I've baked Brioche, but I haven't knit Brioche until now.

I took advantage of the Anniversary Sale at WEBS and bought enough Cascade 220 to make the Hedera Jacket designed by Nancy Marchant from the book Knitting Brioche (click to see a photo).

The jacket is worked in a 5-color Brioche Stockinette stitch. Because I was choosing colors solely by the photos on the web site, I selected 6 colors to give me more options. I never know how the colors will look together until I make a swatch and this was no exception.

Color combo #1
2450 Mystic Purple (lt purple), 8885 Plum, 7811 Eggplant Heather (dk purple), 9454 Rainier Heather (yellow/orange tones), 9449 Midnight Heather (blue with green tones)

I tried the colors above and changed the order a couple of times but I didn't like the results--the combination just didn't gel. For the next attempt I substituted Rainier Heather with the 6th color, Twilight Blue.

Color combo #2
2450 Mystic Purple (lt purple), 8885 Plum, 7811 Eggplant Heather (dk purple), 9568 Twilight Blue (bright blue), 9449 Midnight Heather (blue with green tones)

Now that's something I'd wear.

Here's the entire swatch, front and back. It's time to cast-on.

5-color Stockinette Brioche Stitch swatch (RS)

5-color Stockinette Brioche Stitch swatch (WS)

High Ground

2011-06-11T09:22:00.000-07:00

We're getting CSA fruits and vegetables again, but this time we're splitting it with Spinnity's household which is much better for us. We're able to enjoy the produce without feeling the pressure to consume everything in a week.

The quality of produce from High Ground Organics is noticeably better than what our Farmers' Market has to offer. It's beautiful and delicious.

High Ground Organics CSA
Red Leaf Lettuce, Little Gem Lettuce, Strawberries, Red Radishes, Bunched Spinach, Bunched Mokum Carrots, Mei Quin Choy, Lacinato Kale, Summer Squash

HKF

2011-06-10T07:26:00.001-07:00

ETA: In loving memory of Karen, a wonderful woman who I knit with. 3-1/2 years ago when I first started the HKF posts, I thought no one was interested and was going to stop the series. Karen told me how she looked forward to seeing what I was wearing every Friday so I kept it going for her.

This one's for you Karen.

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing Petroglyph socks.

Petroglyph Socks
Project details on Ravelry

HKF

2011-06-03T11:14:00.001-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing Pomatomi.

Pomatomus socks
Project details on Ravelry

Runner-up

2011-06-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

This year I entered one item to the California State Fair, a finished item that probably has more stitches than the last 2 years' entries combined.

Sanquhar Glove

More about the Compass Rose Sanquhar Gloves:

These gloves were knit using #000 needles (1.5mm in diameter). That's thin.

They were started in August 19, 2009 and finished on May 9, 2011. Clearly I wasn't working on them non-stop.

The gloves were finished with sewn-in liners to making them warmer and more comfortable to wear.

The pattern was designed by Beth Brown-Reinsel, one of my favorite designers and teachers. I was very happy to show her a finished glove at Stitches West this year.

The yarn is Elemental Affects, naturally colored wool from Judith MacKenzie.

Last but not least, the gloves would have never materialized without Spinnity who gave me the yarn and pattern.

Sanquhar glove and lining

Compass Rose Sanquhar Gloves
Project details on Ravelry

I received my Creative Arts Fiber Art Show Exhibit scorecard in the mail last week. The fact that I didn't blog about it immediately reflects how I felt when I read the results--

With lining too! These glove are very well done. You're in a highly competitive class!!

Honorable Mention

I guess I had more invested in this project than the judges could appreciate, exclamation marks notwithstanding. I know, I know, it's a big state and all that. I'm just lucky they didn't send the gloves back without any sort of placement.

If you're going to the State Fair this year, I hope you'll stop by the Creative Arts Hall to see all the winning entries--as well as my gloves.

Okay, the pity party's over. I'm already planning next year's entry. Something simpler.

HKF

2011-05-27T07:30:00.001-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing Mosaic socks.

Mosaic socks
Project details on Ravelry

HKF

2011-05-20T08:22:00.001-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits are you wearing today?

My feet are cozy in Zingibers.

Zingiber socks
Free knitting pattern

Introducing the Inside-Out Hat

2011-05-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

Note: Permission was obtained to use images of the book in this post.

A package arrived today. Have I told you how much I like receiving packages?

Special delivery

Rrrrrrrrrippp!

It's here! It's here!

10 Secrets of the LaidBack Knitters:
A Guide to Holistic Knitting, Yarn, and Life

And on page 40 is...

Inside-Out Hat

The Inside-Out Hat started out with 2 ideas, reversible and warm. I had seen patterns for hats that were knit with 2 layers, basically 2 hats joined at the bottom edge and one hat pushed into the other. I took that idea and ran with it. I used 2 coordinating colors and created a striped brim. Then I added a cool design element (well, I think it's cool), eyelets that let the inside layer show through. Of course the hat is reversible so it's really 2 hats in one.

I knit a prototype in a newborn size and hadn't sized it up or done much else with it so it sat in my stash for quite a while. Then Lisa Souza contacted me and let me know about the book that she and Vicki Stiefel were working on. Would I be interested in submitting a pattern? I didn't know what they'd think of my little hat, but I sent photos and boy were they interested! They asked for a child's version and an adult version.

I ended up delivering a pattern in 5 sizes along with 2 samples. There's nothing like a deadline to make you finish something, you know?

So here they are, the Inside-Out Hat in the child size & adult size.

Inside-Out Hat - Child

Inside-Out Hat - Child

Inside-Out Hat - Adult

Inside-Out Hat - Adult

The name of the pattern makes me smile, because now I have an Inside-Out and an Outside In.

Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't let you know the rest of the book looks fantastic. The Laidback Knitters share their secrets for knitting and life in a fun and casual style. Reading it makes me I feel like I'm sitting in a room talking with them. The other patterns are amazing and come from the talented minds of Norah Gaughan, Sivia Harding, Rosemary Hill, and Brenda Patipa to name a few. Somebody pinch me! Strike that. If I'm dreaming, I don't want to wake up.

HKF

2011-05-13T16:16:00.000-07:00

I didn't forget about Hand Knit Friday, but blogger wouldn't let me post this morning. Glad to see it's back.

I've been wearing my Crusoe socks all day. What hand knits are you wearing today?

Lite Brite socks
Project details on Ravelry

Piece by piece, inch by inch

2011-05-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

Work has been all consuming for too long now. Late nights and weekends have meant that I haven't had energy for much else. It has been a challenge.

I had today off and took a little time to enjoy some Merino and Bombyx silk from Lisa Souza. It's amazing how grounded I feel after spending a few moments spinning the beautiful fiber on the Lendrum.

Lisa Souza Merino/Bombyx Silk

HKF

2011-05-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing bamboo and wool--

Crystalline Lattice socks
Project details on Ravelry

HKF

2011-04-29T06:55:00.001-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing socks knit with handspun. They're very comforting.

Mars Mission socks
Project info on Ravelry

HKF

2011-04-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday!

I'm wearing Laced-Up socks. What hand knits are you wearing today?

Laced-Up socks
Project details on Ravelry

Introducing Evelyn's No-Sew Blankie, a KAL (with prizes!), and 24x7 Fiber

2011-04-16T18:17:00.000-07:00

Evelyn's No-Sew Blankie (ENSB) made its debut this month in the Spring+Summer issue of Knitty. It's a quick and easy knit and is perfect for a handspun yarn or a commercial yarn like Lisa Souza's Superwash Merino. The garter stitch mitered squares show off variegated colorways beautifully.

ENSB in handspun

ENSB in Lisa Souza's Superwash Merino
Free knitting pattern

The origin of ENSB goes back to last summer and a hot pour dyeing project. At the time I was focused on process. I liked the colors in the pot.

Hot pour dyeing

But the resulting bumps were not what I expected. Ahhh, the surprises of the dye pot. At times they're genius and other times, well, they're just surprises. Either way they're always learning experiences.

Anyway, I wasn't sure what to do with the bumps... normally I spin 4 oz and make socks, but maybe I could spin all 8 oz and 3-ply the whole lot to create randomness in the color combos. And maybe I could actually design something with my own handspun. What a novel idea!

Thank goodness for the 2010 Tour de Fleece, it helped me process a lot of fiber in a relatively short period of time.

Potluck - Cobbler singles

I didn't split the fiber before I spun it so the color runs were intentionally long. I wanted the 3-ply color combos to change very slowly throughout the yarn, and that's exactly what I achieved.

Potluck - Cobbler singles

From then on everything fell into place. I had a baby blanket pattern in mind for little Evelyn who was born last year and with just 8 oz of 3-ply it would need to be a car seat blanket. For inspiration, I looked to the Baby Surprise Jacket that I made for her. I loved how how the garter st showed off the yarn and how the double decreases made the garter ridges "turn the corner". Thank you EZ!

Evelyn's Pink Granite BSJ

Mitered squares and garter st squares make up the body of the blanket and the center is worked in the round and the blanket is finished with an applied i-cord border.

ENSB in handspun

After finishing the handspun blanket I searched for a commercially available yarn and Lisa Souza's Superwash Merino turned out to be the just the ticket. She put a hank of Sunny Days in the mail as she headed out to Stitches Midwest and suggested that I swatch with it. I got started and before I knew it the swatch was finished. lol

Lexy: pensive

That's my favorite photo. Isn't Lexy the cutest model ever? Kristi kindly offered to take photos of the blankets with Lexy and they both did a fantastic job. Thank you so much for your patience and tenacity.

I'm very happy with how the pattern turned out and it's getting a good response on Ravelry. There's even a KAL that Ginny of FatCatKnits has started. The photos of the blankies in handspun are making me want to knit another! If you're going to knit ENSB, consider joining the KAL. One of the prizes is a bump of fiber dyed by yours truly.

Last but not least, my handpainted superwash BFL is available in the 24x7 Fiber Shop. Potluck - Cobbler isn't a colorway I'm planning on repeating, but there are other (better) colorways available with more coming soon.

At The Tank SOLD!

7th Veil SOLD!

Emy-licious

Love Me Baby

Salad Days

Keep Me Tied Up

HKF

2011-04-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday. What hand knits are you wearing today?

I'm wearing the best office sweater, the Lanaknits Hemp Cardi.

Basket Stitch Cardigan
Project details on Ravelry

My feet are comfy in socks made by Mutare Posts:

Socks from Mutare Posts

A new favorite: Oatmeal Date Bread

2011-04-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

We came home from the warehouse store with a multi-pound bag of steel cut oats. Okay, now what to make other than oatmeal? I turned to my trusty bread book--

and found a recipe for Oatmeal Date Bread.

Hmmm. Dates. I don't like dates, but we do have them in the fridge. Eh, what the heck? Maybe enclosing them in a hearty bread will change my mind.

Measure. Chop. Stir. Rise. Refrigerate. Shape. Rise. Bake. Cool. Slice. Toast. Butter. Eat. Smile.

Oatmeal Date Bread

Next I'll add chopped pecans and more dates (who am I?!). It's a very tasty bread.

HKF, Knitty-style. Introducing Zingiber.

2011-04-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits are you wearing today?

This HFK is a two-for-one, featuring a pattern published in the latest issue of Knitty.

His & Hers Zingiber socks
Free knitting pattern

Now that the pattern is out in the wild, we're both wearing our Zingiber socks.

This pattern is a little different in that it comes in 4 sizes, Medium, Large, XLarge, and XXLarge (big enough to accommodate a man's US 14/15 sized foot).

The stitch pattern has twisted knit stitches and what I call a "cinch" every inch or so. The sides have a simple 1x1 cable of traveling sts that delineate the front & back of the sock.

It's kind of fun to have his & hers socks. Happy HKF!

HKF

2011-04-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

Another day of unseasonably warm temperatures calls for cotton blend socks.

Primavera socks
Project details on Ravelry

It's enough to make you cry (or yell)

2011-03-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

A lot.

2 Left Gloves :(

What a rookie mistake. I was completely deflated when I realized that I had done exactly what I tried to avoid. *sigh*

No, I didn't cry, but I did yell. I thought I had to rip all the way back to the thumb and I just didn't have the strength.

After leaving it alone for a while and taking a time out, I looked more carefully at the glove hoping above all hope that I was wrong. Maybe it was really a right hand glove.

Nope. It was still a second left glove. Darn. (deep breath)

Okay, back to looking carefully at the glove. What made it a left glove? When (and how) was the decision made?

Well, it turns out that the decision was made when the 3 motifs were chosen for the index finger. So that meant that I didn't have to rip back to the thumb, I just had to rip out the middle & index fingers. I wasn't happy about having to rip at all, but it could have been worse, much worse.

(Why is it that ripping out is exponentially faster than knitting? It doesn't seem fair.)

From that moment on I was a knitter possessed.

Fingers ripped out late 3/23, 4 fingers finished by 3/27. Take THAT!

All better
Project details on Ravelry

HKF

2011-03-25T07:38:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday!

I'm wearing Laced-Up socks from Stitch 'n Bitch Superstar Knitting: Go Beyond the Basics. What hand knits are you wearing today?

Laced-Up socks
Project details on Ravelry

Gig Alert--The Roger Steen Band in Berkeley this Saturday. Be there!

2011-03-22T07:35:00.000-07:00

Art Design: Carol Sevilla, Photo: Bill Walker

THE ROGER STEEN BAND, Saturday March 26

The Roger Steen Band returns to Art House Gallery and Cultural Center for rare Concert Show.

Roger Steen, a founding member and lead shredder with legendary band THE TUBES brings his own band to Berkeley for a return engagement at the beautiful Art House Gallery & Cultural Center under the direction of Harold Adler.

Roger and his band deliver a scorching set of Jazz, Latin and old school rock to make you wiggle in your seat or pop up dancing.

Roger has toured the world many times over, performed to audiences in the hundreds of thousands, (Festival, UK.) and has performed in nearly every club in the United States. He and his band are excited to return to the beautiful Art House & Cultural center where the room was packed to the rafters.

“Roger Steen’s playing is…. perfection”

– Joerg Kliewe, Guitar International.com

“Roger’s playing style varies and shifts with the mood of the song, elements of salsa-esque rhythms, bizarre polyrhythms”.

– Ryk Weston, Ultimate Guitar.com

The band:
Roger Steen: Guitar, Vocals
Hank Gibson: Bass, Vocals
David Rapaport: Drums
Bill Walker: Keys, Vocals
Janice Kang: Vocals

The Roger Steen Band
March 26, 2011, 7:30 - 10:00PM
Berkeley Art House and Cultural Center
2905 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley (north of Ashby Bart Station)
$12 cover, cash only

HKF

2011-03-18T07:15:00.000-07:00

It's Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits are you wearing today?

I have on a pair of socks made with hand dyed hand spun, but I can't show you the FO (yet).

Hand dyed hand spun

Waffles, hold the syrup

2011-03-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

The new-to-me Gilmore loom continues to draw attention away from other projects. This may become a problem as a deadline approaches, but for now I'm marveling at the seemingly endless variety of weaving possibilities.

I bought 3 cones of Valley Yarns 8/2 Cotton a while ago in anticipation of weaving. There's nothing like advanced planning, huh? But if I remember correctly the yarn was on sale, so it's not like I didn't have a pressing reason to buy it 19 months before I took delivery on the floor loom. Oh but wait, I did have Dorothy. Yeah, that's it. I was going to weave it on Dorothy.

Anyway, I'm not feeling very confident with substituting yarns in weaving projects right now so I searched for a pattern that called for 8/2 cotton and found the Honeycomb Dish Cloth. After a bit of figuring, I worked out what size I could make, how many, and all that good stuff.

Measuring out the warp took quite a while because I needed 436 ends with color changes. I also read the draft wrong so I started out with the wrong number of ends for the first color, but that was easily fixed with the an extra warp chain.

I have to admit, after the difficult time I had sleying the chenille I was reluctant to get going on 4x more ends of thin cotton. But I finally mustered up the courage and got started. I needed 18 dpi in a 12 dpi reed so the sequence was 1-2-2. No major disasters with this step, it all went smoothly but sleying is hard on the body. Taking breaks and stretching helped.

The next step was to thread the heddles. I counted the heddles I needed before I got started (see? I'm learning) and then proceeded to transfer the cross to the other side of the reed. I know, it all sounds like Greek doesn't it? Basically it's a step to help me keep the warp strands in order. If I had one strand per dent I wouldn't have had to do this, but since I had 2 strands in some of the dents I wanted to be able to tell what order those 2 strands should be in. (That explanation probably didn't help at all, did it?) I used Madelyn van der Hoogt's Warping Your Loom DVD method to transfer the cross which made threading the heddles much cleaner.

I had a couple of "oops" during warping. Some how one of the warp chains was mucked up so it wouldn't unravel. It was a warp chain that only had 30 ends in it, so I manually undid the chain and it wasn't a big deal--I must have pulled the end of the chain through the live loop like a bind off. Oops.

Also, I crossed 2 threads in the reed. Oops. It was apparent when opening the first shed so that was easy to fix.

The loom was finally warped and ready for weaving.

Warped

Now I'm treadling and throwing the shuttle and the waffles are forming. It's magic!

Honeycomb Dish Cloth
Free pattern
Ravelry link

About the other project--the one that shall not be named--it's off the loom and stuffed in a bag. It didn't turn out as I expected so I'll blog about it when its time-out is over.

HKF

2011-03-11T11:16:00.000-08:00

My thoughts are with those in Japan and with everyone who has friends and loved ones impacted by the earthquake and tsunami.

This makes Hand Knit Friday even more trivial than usual, but I find tangible comfort in hand knits. It's a small thing.

Petroglyph Socks
Project details on Ravelry

HKF

2011-03-04T08:38:00.001-08:00

It's a Hand Knit Friday at home. I'm comfy cozy in my felted clogs. What hand knits are you wearing today?

Barney Clogs

New loom, new project, and lessons learned

2011-02-27T12:23:00.000-08:00

My first project on the Gilmore is a chenille scarf. From what I read about weaving with chenille, it needs to be woven tightly to reduce the chances of worming*. I decided to go with a sett of 20 epi and a plain weave.

Chenille warp

I'm using Madelyn van der Hoogt's warping method from her Warping Your Loom DVD and if I had followed her instructions instead of trying to do my own thing (sigh), I'm convinced I wouldn't have had any issues. Instead I strayed off the tried and true path and had a "learning experience."

Where I went wrong was rather than sleying the reed at a table as the video shows, I tried sleying it at the loom. That was not a good idea. Even though I had lease sticks securing the cross, I left very short ends to work with (another mistake) and the chenille got charged with static. Between trying to hold everything and reaching around the reed with the threading tool, the cross became less and less obvious and I got frustrated.

I was worried that if I continued with what I was doing I'd have a royal tangle on my hands that I might not be able to correct. I stopped.

With the lease sticks and cross in my left hand and the warp chain under my left arm, I unscrewed the beater bar with my right hand (easier said than done) and carried the whole mess, reed and all, to a table to do what was demonstrated in the video. By then the cross, although still intact, was even more difficult to see. It took quite a while to straighten things out and eventually the reed was sleyed.

The warp was only 4 yds long and I hoped that the front-to-back warping method would allow me to straighten out any order issues while still winding on a tight warp. In spite of the strands that wanted to fly away because of the static and the rest that wanted to cling together because of the sticky quality of chenille, I ended up with a well-ordered, nicely tensioned warp. Thank you Madelyn, your method saved me from myself.

Lessons learned:

Put the cross farther in from the end on the warping board until I'm more comfortable picking up individual strands from the cross.

Sley the reed at a table. It's easier and more comfortable than sleying at the loom.

Tie the choke farther from the cross so there's more length to work with when the choke is tied to the front beam.

Follow instructions until I know what I'm doing.

Here it is, my first WIP on the Gilmore.

Chenille scarf
Project details on Ravelry

*Chenille is notorious for having twists of yarn that resemble worms pop up in a finished fabric. Worming can occur in knit or woven chenille.

HKF

2011-02-25T07:07:00.000-08:00

It's a chilly Hand Knit Friday--there's a good chance of snow at 1000' tonight, maybe even as low as sea level. What hand knits do you have on today? I'm wearing

Hooray for Urban Broads

Digits exposed

It was my plan all along

2011-02-23T12:13:00.000-08:00

A little over 5 years ago I helped out a friend who was destashing a large cone and some wound balls of chenille--we're talking 4-1/2 pounds of chenille. I gave away the wound balls, but kept the cone and now I'm thinking it'll be a good match for the Gilmore.

I'd like to make a scarf and use the chenille for both warp and weft. Measurements put this this stuff at 1750 yds per pound.

I understand that I'll need a fairly tight weave to prevent worming and a simple weave structure to reduce the float length. Tabby is fine with me.

It seems like the reed might rub off the fuzziness of the yarn and weaken it, but maybe I just need to try it to see if it's a problem.

Are there other things I should consider? Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Twills

2011-02-22T17:09:00.000-08:00

Sample weaving on the Gilmore--

Twills

It's here and it's beautiful

2011-02-22T12:14:00.000-08:00

It's a 46" Gilmore loom, refinished and refurbished. I'm very excited!

Hey Margot, here it is in its new home--it fits!

New-to-me loom

The view from here

Ready to weave