More Spinning

I've been spinning away. And I think I've got it now. Back in the fall I bought this beautiful roving from Jessica and I never got the hang of the spindle. But I've been practicing on the wheel and I made real yarn. Not good yarn but I can knit with it.


So I plied it all up and got this.



And then I set the twist and it looked like this.


And now it looks like this. Not perfect but I think I'm going to make this hat for Reese with it.



The yarn I'm working on now is really better, even Mr. Truck noticed.

And in case you wondered, I'm knitting socks. I'm almost done with the first one. They're Eunice by Cookie A. and they're quite challenging, also a bit shorter than I'm used to. I've been working on size 0 needles and I've snapped one already doing one of the cables. I just need to buy metal needles, the bamboo ones are really like toothpicks.

Another Ishbel

So I bought this yarn for Ishbel and I stalked all the projects on Ravelry and I figured 430 yards was plenty. So I decided to do the bigger size for the stockinette part and the smaller size for the lace section. I was really sure it would be enough. But in the very beginning there was a knot and I made it worse so I cut it out and did a Russian join. There was about a yard of yarn that I stuffed in my knitting bag. And I kept knitting. Towards the end that sinking feeling set in so I didn't do the very last row before the bind off and I was sure I could make it. But at the very end of the bind off there was no more yarn. I really could have cried, I had no life lines. And then I remembered that piece of yarn, and I tore the house apart looking for it. I finally found it and did another Russian join and just made it. So my advice is never throw out those bits until you're really done.



And that's all that's left.

PS Here's a link to a Russian join just in case

Spinning!

I can do it! Not well or fast but I am now officially a spinner. On Saturday morning I went to The Spinnery for a private lesson with Betty. Who, I must add, has the patience of a saint. When I signed up for the class I told her I had a drop spindle and when I got there I told her I now had a wheel. Betty didn't even blink, just got me a wheel and went on as if nothing happened. I was glad that I'd spent the last two weeks practicing my footwork because I was spinning in minutes. Betty went over everything, answered all my questions and was a great cheerleader.



By the end of the class I had spun and plied a whopping 18.7 yards of something that can be called yarn.




When I got home I washed it and hung it to set and then wound it into a cake.




Then I knit it all up. It's not even and it's certainly not perfect but it will be some day.





And I think I'll frame this.


By the way, if you're ever nearby, Frenchtown, NJ is just the cutest little town. Saturday was Bastille Day and I wish I had had more time to wander around.

J is for Jam, Finally!

I've had no J for my ABC Along. But last week, it just happened. Olivia and Evan spent the afternoon and night because their parents won tickets to a concert. They always love to pick the raspberries when they come over. I inherited these plants and they are really invasive but they fruit twice a year and we love them. I spend a lot of time trying to whack them into submission and it's not really working too well. Every spring they're marching across the garden again.


The kids did a good job of picking all the red ones so there was enough to make a batch of jam.



Evan loves to cook and he's a really good helper but he was stirring so fast I couldn't get the picture focused.




For this one I made him stay still, very hard when you're seven and want to lick the spoon.




I just use the recipe from the back of the Sure-Jell package and we make freezer jam. Delicious! So this year J is for jam.