Some finished projects

I knit a lot, but I don't always have finished projects. All week I've been swatching, but I realized I had finished these projects in the last couple weeks.

Pictured here is a "healing shawl" I knit using this fabulous merino cable yarn. It never sold well in the shop for some odd reason as it's a lovely yarn. So I've been enjoying it. I longed to work these three colors together. I go to a knitting group once a month at River Road UU church in Bethesda. This will be blessed and given to someone who is ill.








This hat uses the new ruffle yarn, Aloha, from Skacel. It's different to knit with and the results are fabulous.
The ruffle yarn is a wide knitted tape and you knit into the edge at 1-1.25" intervals, creating the ruffle. The tape has three colors, so depending on how you use it, different colors show up.

A more prolific knitter than I am, Sandy D'Onofrio brought some finished projects by for pics the other day. The Fibonacci sweater used a pattern from the knitting calendar. She knit it in Sierra from Cascade, in various shades with a great effect. The socks are in Lifestyle from Skacel and the Snazzy Hat is Squiggle and Lamb's Pride Bulky.

Tea Dyes

I'm experimenting with alpaca/cotton quilt batting from BacktoBack Alpaca. I want to make a vest. I've made a bag already and will be teaching classes around the techniques I'm using. The batting is off-white and I want it to be a pale color for my vest. What you see here are swatches dyed in (l to r) pink lemonade Kool-Aid, black tea and green tea. The green tea wins, as much as I like pink! Sonja says the pink reminds her of home insulation, so that color is now completely ruled out.

Tea dyeing: I soaked the fiber in warm water until saturated, then squeezed the excess water out and placed in a flat bottomed container. I made a strong tea--two tea bags in 6 oz of water, which I poured over the fiber, covering it completely. (I had let the tea sit while I took a shower). I let it sit for awhile--I checked email and forgot I had started this project and came back to it when I returned to the kitchen to do the dishes. The water was room temp by then. Then I put it in the microwave for 2 minutes, removed and let sit for another forgettable period of time. I then pressed the water out, rolled up in a towel to further dry and set out to air dry. Total time I spent on this project, by the clock, about 1.5 hours. Total time I actually was doing something, about 5 minutes. I have yet to work out the logistics of larger pieces. I think I have to buy some bulk tea first--this will take more than a couple of tea bags. Seems like a good excuse to check out the new tea shop in Hagerstown!

More Field Trip Pictures

More pictures and story.

Y2Knit Field Trip

Janis and Marge

The social knitting groups from Y2Knit got together and went on a field trip Monday. We piled into cars and vans and headed south to Virginia. Janis and Marge rode with Doug and I in the Outback and we knitted and talked the whole way to Staunton, Virginia.

Our driver: my husband Doug (the only male in the entire group)

First stop: Chester Farms, home of Cestari Yarns. Mr. Chester (below) took half the group on a wagon tour of the farm while the other half toured the mill. Only a part of the operation is at this location. Most of the sheep are on another nearby farm. He talked about his sheep, Merino and Columbia, and it was clear that he really loves raising the sheep and improving the bloodlines and the wool. He was very enthusiastic about the whole process.

We got to meet Reggie, a partially shorn cat (matted hair removed) and some of the rams.

The whole yarn making process was fascinating. The machines used are all from a mill in Maine and were made in the 1940's. I saw a date of 1947 on one of them.



They send the wool to Pennsylvania to be dyed and it comes back in 700lb. bales.

They spread them out and feed them into a machine that mixes and fluffs them. Then they go into a huge machine that cards and combs to wool. It comes out the other end a pencil roving on long rolls.


The rolls are then taken to another machine that spins the roving onto spindles. The spindles are taken to another machine that plies them onto other spindles. Those spindles are taken to another machine that winds them onto really big spindles. The big spindles go to the last machine that winds them into center-pull skeins. I think. I could be wrong about any of those steps.

I took lots of video of the machine running. I hope to upload it to YouTube soon. Stay tuned for more later...

Yarn Sex

It was quite a sight at Social Knitting last night. I don't have a picture, regrettably, to share.

The Malabrigo yarn had arrived late and Sonja and I did not get it put away, rather it was on the table in the room where the social knitters meet. I left the room to get more chairs at some point and came back to find a bag of the lace weight (that beautiful teal pictured at the far left) ripped open and yarn being fondled amid a chorus of "oohs" and "aahs". Kim had looped the hank around her neck and was cuddling it. I think they liked it!



A couple of hours earlier, Sonja looked through the colors. We wanted to pick favorites, but it's too hard.

Heirloom Lace by Gwen

Gwen Grisham, a customer and knitter for Y2Knit, brought in her fabulous Fir Cone Square Shawl from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls. Gwen got the merino/silk laceweight yarn earlier this year, first purchasing a jade color, then deciding she needed more, she got what she thought was the same color. It's slightly different so she ran both strands together for a beautiful tone on tone green. The results speak for themselves.

One of the things I admire about Gwen is her belief that she can knit anything. I have never heard her say she finds a piece intimidating.

Rather, she'll indicate she'd like to challenge herself. She knits what she wants, regardless of perceived difficulty or challenge.

When I said that the shawl would be awesome with dark skirt or slacks, Gwen replied that she just wears it around the house with her sweats. You won't find this beautiful shawl draped over furniture just to be admired!

That's another thing I admire about Gwen. She's so real and unconventional. I look forward to seeing her next creation. She's spinning the yarn for another lace shawl.