Spinning 7 | Through The Yarny Curtain

KCBW6, Day 7: Your Time, Your Place

Today’s prompt is to write about my crafting time and space. I realized that every time I attend a special fiber-related event, I write an entire post on this blog. Sometimes I mention going to my regular spinning or knitting group, but I’ve never written posts about the various groups I attend or my day-to-day crafting experience!

Crafting at Home

When I craft at home, it is almost always in my living room, while watching tv. If I’m knitting or crocheting, I sit on the couch, and there’s almost always a cat in my lap.

If I am spinning or weaving, I can’t sit on the couch because it is too low and I can’t sit all the way back. Instead, I grab a “kitchen” chair and sit in that while I spin or weave. “Kitchen” is in quotes because these chairs are part of a table & chairs set that I bought for maybe $60 many years ago (at least 20), but they are no longer used in the kitchen. The table is an extension of my desk and the chairs are totally beat up because of the cats. The chairs float around the house, pressed into service as cat beds, cat stair steps (so poor arthritic Pepper can get to her favorite sleep spots), step stools for me, etc.

Travel Knitting

Since I’ve traveled so much the last few years, travel knitting is a regular part of my crafting time. If I’m on a plane, I am almost always knitting. If I’m a passenger in a car, and we are traveling a distance, I’m knitting.

I took this picture on my recent flight to Hartford, CT. I often put my ball of yarn in the cup holder on the tray to keep it from getting away from me.

Crafting Groups

I regularly attend 3 groups that meet monthly as well as one weekly group. I’m thinking of adding a fourth monthly group; they used to meet on Wednesdays, conflicting with my regular weekly group, but they moved their meetings to the second Saturday of the month. I haven’t been home on the second Saturday since they changed the meeting. I’m planning to attend that group in June and see if I can make it a regular part of my schedule.

Wednesday Knit Nights

The weekly group meets from whenever people arrive until 8 pm at my local yarn store (LYS), Knit!, located 3 miles from my house. I’ve lived close to Knit! for 12 years, and ever since I picked up my knitting in 2006 after a hiatus of several years, it’s been my LYS. Marney’s had knitting nights before, usually during the fall and winter, but I’ve never attended because of my schedule. Last fall, she started up knit nights again and I plan to go every week, though of course I don’t always make it. Most Wednesdays, there’s at least 6 or 8 people there. On busy evenings, there’s been as many as 20 and no room to walk in the shop. On the occasional slow night, there’s 3 people there. I am excited that Marney decided to continue the knit nights through the summer this year!

l to r: Susan, me, Dawn, and Lisa. We're all regulars on Wednesday night. — l to r: Susan, me, Dawn, and Lisa. We’re all regulars on Wednesday night.

Drunken Monkey Spinners

Drunken Monkey is a coffee shop in Orlando. The spinning group meets on the first Saturday of the month from 8 am to 11ish am. Most months, we have at least 8 people in attendance. The most we’ve had is about 12, counting the 5-year old son of the group’s finder and the non-fiber-crafting husband of one member. I joined this group in June last year, a few weeks after I got my spinning wheel. I always bring my wheel because I can’t spindle spin! Other members bring wheels or spindles or knitting or crocheting and we spend a lovely morning chatting over fiber. Other coffee-house guests often stop and ask what we are doing, and we explain to them a little about how spinning works. If you are ever in Orlando on the first Saturday of the month, you are welcome to join us!

Weavers of Orlando

The Weavers of Orlando guild meets on the 3rd Saturday of the month in Winter Park, Florida from 10 am until noonish. Sometimes there’s also presentations in the early afternoon. The Weavers of Orlando has about 100 members and most meetings have 40 to 50 people in attendance. Visitors are always welcome at these meetings, if you find yourself in the Orlando area on the 3rd Saturday of the month.

We have a number of members who live in Florida for the winter and elsewhere for the summer. This is the lowest attendance I've seen since I started attending the Guild last fall, probably because some of the snow birds have flown off to their winter homes. — We have a number of members who live in Florida for the winter and elsewhere for the summer. This is the lowest attendance I’ve seen since I started attending the Guild last fall, probably because some of the snow birds have flown off to their winter homes.

Wekiva Knitters

The area I live in is called Wekiva, after the nearby river. One of the librarians at the local branch organizes Wekiva Knitters; the group meets at that branch on the 3rd Saturday of the month, 1 pm to 3 pm. Since the library is a polling station, including for early voting, during elections the group is cancelled or rescheduled. The attendance varies dramatically from one month to the next. Sometimes there’s only one or two people there. The largest group I’ve ever personally seen is about 10. My own attendance at this group is erratic. I first went in August of 2012, then didn’t make it there again until June 2013 due to travel and other obligations. I really enjoy this group, though, and try to get there as often as I can. It’s only a mile from my house (shorter, as the crow flies), so if I’m home there’s no excuse for missing it!

KCBW6, Day 4: Bags of Fun

Today’s prompt is to share the contents of our knitting bag, crafting caddy, or other tool organization system with you. I don’t usually use a knitting bag and I don’t have a bag dedicated to that purpose. I keep each WIP in its own gallon-sized Ziploc bag which contains the yarn, needles, pattern, embellishments (like beads) or unusual tools needed for the project. When I will be crafting out of the house, I might just grab one of the WIP Ziplocs and toss it in my purse. If I will be working on multiple projects or the project is large, I’ll put everything into an appropriately sized bag to make it easier to carry. While I have a pretty impressive stash of yarn and fiber, I don’t have an extensive tool collection. I like my tools streamlined and multifunctional. It’s fun to dig through my stash, looking for just the right fiber. Once I find it, I want to get to work with as little fuss as possible!

I’m writing this post a few days after the St. Johns River Festival of the Arts (see my blog post about that), when I spent two entire days in the Weavers of Orlando booth, doing demos. On Saturday, I mostly spun and on Sunday I mostly wove. I also brought a knitting project with me. This is the most stuff I ever carry at a time, so I figured I would take pictures of everything in the bag. It’ll give you a good sense of the scope of my tools.

My Knit Kit

I love my Knit Kit. It’s the one thing I carry with me wherever I’m crafting. It fits in my purse and it’s got all the everyday tools I might need in a pinch. I had a Knit Kit, but left it at my sister’s when I was helping her move, so I just bought a new one at Distaff Day in January.

It’s got a row counter, double-ended crochet hook, tape measure, and blade built into it. The cover on the bag is a needle / hook sizer. The interior compartment holds a pair of folding scissors, stitch markers, and tip protectors. I never use tip protectors and don’t like the rubber stitch markers, so I removed them and stocked the back with my own preferred tools:

Two tapestry needles, a sewing needling, a key for KnitPicks interchangeable needles, lobster claw clasps, gourd safety pins, and jump rings with interior dimensions of 3mm, 5 mm, 8 mm, and 10 mm.

I use the jump rings as stitch markers. I use the lobster claw clasps and the gourd safety pins (available on Amazon (affiliate link)) as row markers.

Spinning Supplies

Of course, I had the Cormo that I’m currently spinning.

I had extra bobbins, just in case I filled the one on the wheel.

I had the two metal posts for my built-in lazy Kate, the ball of yarn I’m using for leaders, and spinning wheel oil. I take the metal posts of the lazy Kate out of the wheel when I’m transporting it so that they don’t damage my car.

Weaving Supplies

I had a pile of warping sticks. I brought some with me to place around the knots as I wound the beginning part of the weaving on the cloth beam. The rest of these came out of the weaving. They’re dirty because they fell out of the weaving on to the pavement or floor as I wove and because the llama yarn that is my current warp is pretty hairy and shedding a lot. Fortunately, they are easy to clean since they are vinyl.

Bobbins with the yarns for the current project and empty ones that I already used.

The balls of yarns for the current project, for when I need to wind more yarn on the bobbins.

The card telling me how many inches of each color to weave, and a pen to cross off when I’ve finished that section. (If you want to weave a Dr. Who scarf, don’t bother trying to copy this down from here. Next week, I’ll have a blog post with a link to the Google spreadsheet that has all the information you need).

Miscellaneous Bag Contents

The Super Secret Shawl in its project bag, in case I wanted to knit rather than spin or weave. I ended up not knitting at all during the weekend.

A finished Summit shawl, knit by a friend. She asked me to block it for her and gave it to me while we were at the Festival.

The apron I was wearing while doing demos on Sunday.

Not in the Bag

I have a few tools that I really like, but didn’t need to carry over this weekend.

My fiber scale. I have a kitchen scale that I use only for cooking, and this scale which I use only for fiber-related purposes. I weigh dye on it. I weigh leftover skeins of yarn to calculate the yardage in a finished object. I weigh loom waste to calculate how much yardage I lost in the waste. I weigh bags of fiber to see how much I have left to spin. I love this scale. It weighs in either grams (down to 0.1 gram) or ounces. It has a tare function so I can put a bowl on top, reset the weight to zero and put larger items in the bowl for easier weighing. It weighs up to 2000 g (about 5 pounds), which is sufficient for my fibery purposes.

My mini scissors. When I travel, I take the foldable scissors out of the Knit Kit and put them in my checked luggage. Technically, I should be able to take them in carry on because they are less than 4″ long, but I hate to take the chance. If I don’t have checked luggage, I leave the foldable scissors at home and toss these mini ones into my carry on. Unfortunately, they are a little too fat to fit in the Knit Kit scissors section, but I love them anyway.

My needle notebook. My entire collection of knitting needles and crochet hooks lives in one zip up binder notebook. The entire collection. If I wanted to, I could carry all my needles with me all the time. I rarely take the notebook with me, though. I just don’t need to have all my needles with me. I probably will bring the binder with me to the TKGA Conference in July, and think it’s awesome that it is so easy for me to do so. I purchased this binder from KnitPicks, back when I first bought my interchangeable needle set in 2005 or 2006. A few of the interior zipper pockets came with the binder, and I bought more pages separately. Unfortunately, KnitPicks discontinued the binder several years ago. I think it’s the best item they’ve ever sold for needle storage and don’t know why they discontinued it!

At some point, one or the other of my cats sharpened their claws on the front :-( — At some point, one or the other of my cats sharpened their claws on the front 🙁

Each pouch zips shut. This one, in the very front, has the extra keys and cord end caps.

Each size cord has its own pouch. I made the labels; the pouches did not come labeled.

US size 3 and smaller aren't available as interchangeables and are the only needles I have as fixed circulars. — US size 3 and smaller aren’t available as interchangeables and are the only needles I have as fixed circulars.

There's usually two sizes of needle tips per section. In the mid-range of sizes (US 4-9), I have at least two tips in each size. I only use larger sizes infrequently, so only have one pair of tips per size from US size 10 through US size 17. — There’s usually two sizes of needle tips per section. In the mid-range of sizes (US 4-9), I have at least two pairs of tips in each size. I use larger sizes infrequently, so only have one pair of tips per size from US size 10 through US size 17.

I keep a KnitPicks needle sizer in the front pocket of the binder. KnitPicks has two different size needles (2.25 mm and 2.5 mm) marked as US 1s and two sizes (2.75 mm and 3.0 mm) marked as US 2s. I have needles in all 4 sizes, and only KnitPicks branded sizers have slots to differentiate between them.

The binder lives on a bookshelf in my office, tucked in with the fiber library.

WIP Wednesday: May 6, 2015

It’s been another busy week of crafting! Spending the entire weekend doing demos helped in that regard. I worked slower than usual, since I was chatting with Festival attendees and regularly leaving my work aside to show an interested person how to weave on the floor loom, but I was there for so many hours that I got a lot done despite the frequent interruptions.

Super Secret Shawl

I only got 1/2 of a repeat done this week. I will be bringing this project with me as travel knitting next week, and expect to get a great deal more finished.

Cormo Spinning

I spent most of Saturday spinning. Three hours at my weekly spinning group followed by 5 hours spinning at the Festival of the Arts was enough time to spin at least half of the bobbin that is on my wheel (2.5 to 3 ounces).

Woven Doctor Who Scarf

On Saturday night, I tied this scarf on to my rigid heddle loom. This evening I finished weaving it and it is currently soaking for wet finishing.

St. Johns River Festival of the Arts

This past weekend was the St. Johns River Festival of the Arts, held annually in Sanford, Florida on the first weekend of May. The Festival was held Saturday from 10-6 and Sunday from 10-5. More than 125 artists had booths and expected attendance was 30,000 – 40,000. The Weavers of Orlando guild had a booth and we set up to do spinning and weaving demonstrations. I was in the booth helping with the demos on Saturday from 12-6 and the entire day on Sunday. The weather was spectacular. Mid-70s to low-80s, with a breeze blowing off the lake and little humidity is perfect weather for an outdoor art fair. It was a wonderful weekend!

The Weavers of Orlando Booth

The view looking out from our booth. The sky looked liked this the entire weekend.

We actually had two booth spaces — 52 and 53 — and they were right in the middle of a street.

We had a stand displaying woven items made by guild members.

We taught Kumihimo braiding to kids. We had 160 Kumihimo disks made by guild members for demo purposes; we gave out the last ones about 3:00 pm on Sunday (the guild goes through more than 1,000 Kumihimo disks in a year).

WoO members Nancy (foreground) and Bev teaching Kumihimo braiding to Festival attendees on Saturday.

We brought the 4-shaft Dorset floor loom and any attendee who wanted to try it out got a chance. We had a 3 yard warp on the loom, and by about 4:00 pm on Sunday, the entire length was finished! One attendee, a 12-year-old girl, will be sewing bags from the finished fabric.

WoO member Marilyn encouraging a first-time weaver.

We also had a couple of table looms and members wove on those throughout the day. On Saturday we had three or four people spinning. I was one of the spinners on Saturday, and I got almost 2 ounces of Cormo spun. On Saturday evening, when I got home, I warped my rigid heddle loom so that I could bring it with me on Sunday. I brought my wheel on Sunday also, but I spent most of my time weaving on the rigid heddle. I got about 60″ of weaving done!

Around the Fair

On Sunday, I took an hour or so to stroll around the fair. Many Festival goers brought their dogs with them. I didn’t get any dog pictures, but I get a picture of this unusual pet:

The parrot’s owner told us that he is a rescue bird. His wings are clipped so he can’t fly. He likes to sit on the handlebar of her bike and spread his wings out while she rides, maybe to get the sensation of flying.

I also saw another unusual pet walking around: a bunny rabbit in a harness and on a leash, but I didn’t get a picture of it!

On Saturday, this stilt walker was part of the festival entertainment, strolling along the street and interacting with crowds. The head is a puppet controlled by the walker, and she did a wonderful job of making that head interact in a way that made it seem alive. More than one child gave the bird a drink from a bottle of water! When it was time to distribute ribbons to artists, the stilt walker was along for the ceremony. I didn’t get close enough to see for sure, but I think the puppet head was taking ribbons out of a basket and handing them to the artists! We found out from a Festival organizer that this stilt walker is a Disney employee and the Festival contracted with Disney to have her at the Festival.

Artists

I bought pieces from four artists.

Nicola Barsaleau

Nicola Barsaleau is a Gainesville, Florida-based printmaker. She creates her work using a methodology which has been used for centuries. She starts by drawing onto printmaking linoleum with graphite. By using graphite, she can erase and change until she is satisfied with the image. Once the drawing is complete, she uses a curved tool to carve out sections of the image to make the block. She then applies an oil-based ink to the block and presses it onto paper to make prints. I bought two pieces from her:

Six in the Morning (photo from artist’s blog) (see her blog post about the piece)

Untitled work (photo from artist’s blog) (see her blog post about this piece)

Six in the Morning is a limited edition print and a Father’s Day / Birthday gift for my birdwatching father. The untitled work is for me. I loved the image of the bee and the reminder of how necessary bees are for pollination. I also love the round mandala-like shape, which will blend with another piece I have from a different local artist: a mandala created by manipulating a photo of an endangered gopher tortoise. The untitled work is not a limited edition; Nicola told me she loves this particular piece so much that she wants to be able to print as many as possible.

What the FORK?

The next piece I bought is a pendant from Oswego, New York-based What the FORK (website, Facebook). All of their pieces are made from old silverware, which is welded and hand-manipulated into new shapes. I bought an octopus pendant because I have a wee bit of an obsession with octopi. This piece is not pictured on their website, so here’s a picture I took myself:

Kirk Dodd Photography

Kirk Dodd is a Merritt Island, Florida-based photographer. Most of his work is High Dynamic Range photography, a technique in which multiple images are taken with different settings, then layered to create a final image. The piece I bought is not on his website, and it seems strange to take a picture of a picture, so you don’t get to see it. Sorry! It’s a stunning image, taking at a Florida beach of heart-shaped lightning over the ocean. The image is take at an angle at the point where water is breaking on the beach, so the beach is on the right / lower edge and the ocean is to the left / upper edge and the lightning is in the middle. It’s beautiful.

Touch of Key West Photography

Mark Weeter is a Florida Keys-based photographer who specializes in underwater photography. Smaller pieces (up to about 16″x20″) are printed on aluminum. I really love this technique because it seems to bring a luster to photos that you don’t get any other way. Larger pieces are standard photographic prints. He and his wife frame the pictures themselves, using wood reclaimed from old lobster pots. The frames are pretty cool, some with barnacles still attached. He had a larger black and white photo of a sponge that I just loved, but after my other shopping it was more than I could spend. I settled on a smaller piece, an 8″x8″ image of a jelly fish, shot from below. This image isn’t on his website.

In Conclusion

I had a wonderful time at the St. Johns River Festival of the Arts. Since it is always on the first weekend of May, that means it is always the same weekend as Maryland Sheep and Wool. I’m not sure how often I’ll go to MDSW in the future; any time I’m not going to MDSW, I’ll definitely plan to be at the St. Johns River Festival of the Arts!

WIP Wednesday: April 1, 2015

No jokes or April Fools here. Just works in progress.

Cormo

As I mentioned in my post about the St. Augustine Spin In, I spun a couple ounces of Cormo at the event. I’m still loving this fiber!

Clapotis

When I got home from the Spin In, I collapsed on the couch and did some knitting. I’ve never knit a clapotis, so cast one on. I was thinking I might bring this to India as travel knitting, but at the rate I’m going, I’ll be done before I leave. I’m in the middle of the 4th repeat on the straight section. I’m almost at the end of my second ball of yarn and I only have 2 more. This means I’m close to halfway through the shawl. I won’t do all 12 repeats of the straight section, but I will get 8 to 9 repeats and that should be fine since I’m a short person!

Master Handknitter Level 1

Today I went through the instructions again and made myself a checklist covering all the tasks that must be completed for Level 1. I am registered to attend the TKGA Conference in San Diego in late July, and I’m hoping that I can finish all of Level 1 before I go. I’d really like to finish by late May or early June so that I can submit and possibly get back my reviewed binder before the conference, but given how much traveling I’m doing over the 6 weeks, it seems unlikely that I’ll be able to do it.

Travel Plans

It is amazing how much work it is to prepare to travel to India! I got 5 shots of immunizations, a series of pills to take for a 6th, plus antimalarial and antidiarrhea prescriptions.

Two of these were for my husband's; the rest of those needles were for me. He'd already had many of the necessary immunizations because of his previous travel. — Two of these were for my husband’s; the rest of those needles were for me. He’d already had many of the necessary immunizations because of his previous travel.

I applied for Global Entry, a program which makes the process of going through customs on the return trip much easier. That program required an interview, so I went and did that. We started applying for the travel visa and realized we needed additional information, so I went about procuring that. I called our credit card, cell phone carrier, and health insurance company to let them know we are traveling and find out if I needed to do anything with them before we left. There’s a lot more, but I can’t remember it all!