So many hobbies!

I'm on vacation!!

I'll be back late Monday, October 1st.  Until then, enjoy looking at the tall, handsome man I'm looking forward to meeting in Florence:

Bookbinding

My travel book is drying in the book press.  I started by sewing together the book block:

The spine.

The bookblock.

The case.

Each signature (section) is sewn to tapes.  The tapes are then glued into the case and hold the book together.  Because I'll be adding lots of stuff to my book, I needed to make the spine fatter than the fore edge of the book.  To do this, I used a thicker binding thread to swell the spine and I added narrow pieces of thicker paper in the bookblock.  The goal, when the book is complete and all the tickets, receipts, post cards and photos have been added, is to have the spine be the same width as the fore edge of the book.  If the spine is wider than the fore edge, it will put strain on the spine and eventually damage the book.  Fortunately, this book has lots of pages and I have plenty of room to add whatever strikes my fancy.

I cast on for the smoke ring tonight but there isn't much to show at the moment.  I've done a purl row, knit row, purl, knit and now I'm ready to begin the pattern.  I want to get a couple pattern rows done so I know what I'm doing before I leave my knitting books behind.  I'm using a 24" circ. with Knitpicks new Options needles in the laminated Birch.  So far, I give them two thumbs up.  They're very glossy so stiches slide much more easily than I'm used to.  They'll take a bit of getting used to but so far I really like them.  Because the needles are laminated, they're much stronger than a plain wooden needle and so they're able to get nice pointy tips on them.  I likes me the pointy tips!  I ordered steel circs for sock knitting but I realized I probably wouldn't be able to take them on the plane.  I placed another order for two 24" circs with size 1 Birch needles and I'm hoping they arrive tomorrow before I leave.

Eyecandy Wednesday

This is washed Blue-faced Leicester.  Isn't it beautiful!  Even after scouring, the locks are still curly.  And look at that luster!  (I'm adding a BFL to my future flock.)  I'm taking some of these locks to Italy with me.  I don't think I can be away from unspun fiber for that long.  Does that make me weird?  Too bad, I'm taking it anyway.

All of these skeins are from naturally colored wool.  I was looking at them this morning and was amazed by the variety.  From the top:  1st. row, Shetland left and llama/Rambouillet right; 2nd. row, llama/Rambouillet left and llama/Shetland right; 3rd. row, the beautiful and lustrous Border Leicester; 4th. row, Borderdale; 5th. row, Horn Dorset; 6th. row, Polypay.  You can almost tell that the Border Leicester has the look of pearls.  I don't care for the yellow tinge of the Horn Dorset but I was planning on dyeing it anyway so it doesn't much matter.  All of this yarn, except the Horn Dorset, will eventually make it into a vest made up of all the fiber I've learned about in my Sheep Breeds classes.  If you have a chance to take a class like this one, do it!  It's a wonderful way to learn about the wool different breeds produce. 

And finally, the Autumn Clematis right outside my kitchen window is almost at it's peak.  Try and ignore the garbage can, they made me move it off the front porch.

Combing, Spinning and Dyeing!

Oh, my!  I finished spinning the Border Leicester from Saturday's class and it was wonderful.  B. Leicester has a crisp, silky feel and an amazing luster.  The finished yarn, which is drying, looks like pearls and it practically glows.  It's beautiful!  It's not soft enough to be worn next to the skin, but it would be perfect as sweater yarn and the luster will make the yarn glow whether it's dyed or left natural white.

The batts of Merino/cashmere/angora turned into two ounces and about 250 yards of soft, silky yarn.  I washed and dried it on a plastic niddy noddy to control the bloom and it ended up between fingering and DK weight.

I'm calling this one "Sea Baby."  The blue is actually a gorgeous, rich blue-green - my monitor is showing it as just blue.  I used the 45% cashmere/55% silk yarn I ordered from Sarah's Yarns.  This is the yarn I'll use to make the Old Shale Smoke Ring.  I considered using the Superwash Merino sock yarn I dyed a week or so ago but my neck is very sensitive to wool so the cashmere/silk is a better choice.  The smoke ring is going to feel sooo nice.  I feel a little decadent thinking about wearing it.

Borderdale and some Horn Dorset

I finished spinning and plying the Borderdale - that's the brown at the top - and plied some Horn Dorset I spun Saturday.  That's about it for the evening.  I've been feeling all day like I'm getting a cold (not good!) so I'm going to bed early.  If I'm sick for my trip...

New class, new tools

Saturday was the first of the three classes in the Sheep Breeds class featuring the long-wool breeds.  We studied the Blue Faced Leicester, Border Leicester and Borderdale breeds.  I've spent the most time so far with the Borderdale, which is the brown fiber below.  Borderdale is a beautiful, soft fiber that, once combed, ends up being a big puff of very soft fiber.  It's wonderful to work with.  I'll talk more on the BFL and the Border Leicester when I start working with them more.

Flicks don't work as well on long wool as it does on fine wool so we learned how to use combs.  Oh, man, combs are fun.  They're also dangerous so you have to be very careful using them.  They are very sharp.

The comb on the right is loaded with freshly washed locks.  Holding the loaded comb in your left hand, tines pointing up, you hold the empty comb in your right hand, tines pointing away from you.  Then, combing away from your body, you start at the tips and slowly comb your way in to the tines.  Once all the fiber is transfered from the left comb to the right, it'll look like this:

The bottom comb holds combed fiber.  The fiber on the top comb is waste.  Some people don't like to use combs because of the amount of waste fiber.  In the first photo above, the comb on the left holds waste fiber left over after spinning.  If you needle felt, the waste fiber from spinning from combs can be saved and used in felting.  I'll be saving mine for Shannah who needle felts.

To spin from the comb, you draw out a bit of fiber, attach it to your lead and spin, drawing out a bit of fiber each pull until the comb holds only waste.   I may never send a fleece out to be processed again!

Winding

This one took a while.  There was a lot of yardage on that bobbin.  (Notice the lovely tensioned Lazy Kate my dad finished for me.  Thanks, Dad!)  But now I have this:

   

Try not to notice that my spinning is uneven.  It evens out pretty quickly.  Guess what I'm doing tomorrow night?

So, I've decided on my two knitting projects for my trip.  Now I'm thinking I might take a drop spindle and a bit of fiber.  Of course, I'll have to buy a small spindle... and some fiber.  It's possible I'm insane.  A rather good possibility, actually.  Can I go 10 whole days without spinning?  I have issues.

Almost done

Turns out I had three batts left, not two.  I spun tonight while watching/listening to "Kingdom of Heaven" and this is what's left:  3/4 of a batt.  Tomorrow I'll finish the remainder and Friday I'll ply.

I'm afraid I've got nothing interesting to blog about tonight.  I'm a bit sleep deprived (I keep going to bed too late) and aside from the spinning I did tonight, I haven't really done anything interesting this week.  I'm starting to think about going to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival next year.  I've been told that the hotel rooms sell out very fast so I want to get my reservations in very soon.  It's about an eight hour drive from my house and my tentative plan is to drive there Friday, stay Saturday and Sunday, and drive back on Monday.  My sister mentioned she might like to go with me so I'm waiting to get a commitment from her.  Other than Maryland plans, I'm getting ready for my trip next Friday and waiting for next Friday to get here.  I hate waiting and that might have something to do with how boring I've been this week.  I'll try and be more interesting tomorrow.  'Night

You would think that at my age I would know that if I wanted to get anything done after work that I shouldn't pick up a book.  I did pretty well up to that point.  I got groceries.  I stopped at a vet's to pick up the prescription food to help Seli gain some weight (and I got to cuddle a 4-week-old kitten who was too sweet for words).  Once I picked up the book to read while I was eating dinner, though, it was all over.  I did squat tonight!

Sunday I picked up the Fall 2007 issue of Vogue Knitting.  Most of the patterns were okay but nothing I'd be interested in making or wearing.  All except one.  Number 37 on page 152 is exquisite!  Oh, my...  (I've tried to find a picture online but no luck.)  The pullover is made in a sexy red color in an all-over cable and lace design.  The double collar is a separately knitted piece.  The pattern is far too advanced for me at this point but I'm keeping it and someday, it will be mine!

Since I can't post without a picture...

Doesn't this Osprey look like he's wearing sunglasses?

Blue Peas

My first attempt at dyeing yarn.  I absolutely love bright intense colors and this one fits the bill.  I added the dyes to quart canning jars, stuffed in the wetted yarn and let it cook.  It was easy and fun.  Now I have to figure out what I'm going to do with it?

 

I'm very happy to report that Seli had her yearly vet appointment Saturday and the vet gave her a clean bill of health.  My baby is an older kitty at 16 (or 17?) and not only did her heart get an A+ but her blood work was perfect.  She lost some weight so she will be a very happy kitty eating the canned cat food I've never given her before now.  Seli's happy and I'm happy.