Film at 11, film canisters that is

Oh my. My handspun merino/mohair blend scarf is done and drying. It was a long 3 days work. Or at least it seemed to be. You know how you aren’t supposed to even start warping if you think you are going to get distracted? Somehow I messed up the cross starting on about end #110. Crap and double crap. I warp front to back so the warp is all wound on. Initial testing of my cross said it was OK but once I started running those first few rows of scrap yarn I could see that from #120 to #160 had big glaring mistakes. So I re-sleyed the heddles on that section from back to front and got it fixed. It’s a 21’ wide warp and by careful use of my latest temple was able to maintain the width. Hooray. Well except for those two warp threads that broke during weaving. So the method of tensioning a warp thread with a film canister full of beans? It works.

The good news? I’d spun this yarn (merino/mohair blend I’d bought at one of our local farmer’s markets) over the summer and while spinning really hated it. Loved the color, hated the hand and the fact that some of the roving was felted and I had to toss it. But after spinning and wet finishing it, it really came out nice. I knew I wanted to weave with it but I couldn’t find a warp I liked with it. I must have done 4-5 samples of color combos and then late last week discovered the perfect warp in the bottom of one of my stash containers. It was a hand dyed merino sock yarn I’d bought a few years ago on etsy. It has roughly the same colors in it and a tiny bit of halo. When I sampled it with my handspun it was perfect!! It is so close that it makes it appear to double the amount of my mohair blend. I knew I only had 350 yards of the handspun, sock weight stash yarn was a bit on the skinny side, so I decided on a lacy stole, 8 epi, 6 ppi.

Remember me telling you about Ollie last year? It’s Graham’s girlfriend’s sister’s dog. Half Corgi and half Collie. Well Kathleen (Rachel’s sister) is getting married in September so Ollie will be leaving with them and Rachel will be dogless. Rachel spotted another Corgi mix in Prosser on their Pet Finder ads and she, Graham and Kathleen drove down on Saturday to adopt Teddy. Teddy is about 9 months old, Corgi and Golden Retriever. They brought him over when they were done adopting him so he could meet us and the cats. Ruby wanted nothing to do with him. Rufus stared at him for a while, gave him one long hiss and that was that. Then they took Teddy over to meet Rachel’s parents and afterward I met them at Petco so we could do a little dog toy shopping. I know nothing about dog toys so I picked out a big blue chewie toy with ropes hanging from it, a few snacks and a couple of rawhide chewies. Rachel meanwhile picked out the essential big ticket items like a bed, collar, ID tags, and pooper picker upper bags. Man those are expensive considering you are picking up dog poo with them.

In an effort to reduce more hand spun stash, last week I cast on some wild salmon colored bulky to knit some fingerless mitts to throw in the truck for cold mornings. I’d split the amount in two hoping I’d have enough. Nope. I ran out on mitt one right below my knuckles. (I knitted the afterthought thumbs though). So now I need to find something close in color in my stash I can add onto the top of each mitt and then I’ll over dye them. I don’t care if the tops and bottoms are different. No progress photos.

A week ago Sunday a few of us met to spin at a local book store’s café. No sooner did I take the first treadle stroke when a piece of wood that holds the treadle down flew off. Crums. So no plying last week. This weekend I finally got around to wood gluing the part back on and while I was at it oiled the few places you are supposed to on a Lendrum DT. Let me tell you, she is now a very happy wheel! I’m plying the Abstract Fiber SW Seascape BFL I bought at Knit Purl in November. http://www.knit-purl.com/Products/DisplayImage.php? Now that I see it plied I almost wish I had more (except it was too $$$ cause I bought it at Knit Purl) or had spun it thinner so I’d have more yardage. Sigh.

Ever feel silly for grinning to your self? Me too. A week or two ago Not-A-Knitter Karen (she’s trying her first pair of socks!!) surprised me with a copy of SPM’s “At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much. I hadn’t bought or even read any of the Yarn Harlot’s books since I read her blog about once a week (to catch up). This book is a GEM! It is hilarious! I keep it on my bedside table and read a “passage” or two every evening before I go to bed. And grin. Thanks again Karen!