Midnight Fiber and Fabric Podcast, Episode 24: Bizarre Circle of Conversation

Lots of Halloween sewing for this year, mostly for Ender's archer ensemble:

Knitting: World Series Socks, Hitofude, 5-1 Mittens, Flax

Winter Wear KAL: Let's knit together on some items for this winter- anything winter related can be connected to this KAL! 

Join in by tagging your work with #winterwearKAL on Instagram and Twitter or on the Ravelry thread for the KAL.

Craftsy class: Handknit Knitting Design with Shirley Paden. Can you visualize what the written pattern will become before you have knit it? I'd love to know about how you see your knitting.

On the Nightstand: Life of Pi by Yann Martel, History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer, Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

Events: Stitches West February 19-22

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Midnight Fiber and Fabric Podcast, Episode 23: A Whack of Hats

This week I wore the Shapely Boyfriend Sweater by Stefanie Japel, and several pairs of wool socks.

I worked on the Spare Socks, Looped Loop, Ender's sweater and FINISHED Braid Hills! I also made a whack of hats, but there are no ravelry pages for them yet. I also cast on Glitz at the Ritz using a club yarn from Nerd Girl Yarns club Random Fandom.


Winter Wear KAL: Let's knit together on some items for this winter- anything winter related can be connected to this KAL! Join in by tagging your work with #winterwearKAL on Instagram and Twitter.

I've been  working through the Handknit Garment Design Craftsy class with Shirley Paden over the last few weeks. What have you been learning lately? Please share on the Ravelry thread for Episode 23!

On the Nightstand:

Sweater Design in Plain English by Maggie Righetti

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

A Million Little Ways by Emily Freeman

I love new book suggestions. Feel free to share what you are reading in the comments for this post or on the ravelry thread for this episode.

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Midnight Fiber and Fabric Podcast, Episode 22: Dude in A Kilt

This week we talk about my SPAKAL spinning, the Spare Socks, and Looped Loop.

Winter Wear KAL: Let's knit together on some items for this winter- anything winter related can be connected to this KAL! Join in by tagging your work with #winterwearKAL on Instagram and Twitter.

Projects/plans talked about in the winterwearKAL portion of the podcast include: Braid Hills cardigan, Flax, and Soledad.

Pocket Jamie makes an appearance in the tips and tricks section. He's worth a quick peak!

Sunday Short Rows Video is mentioned in Try New Things

Winter Wear KAL Top 5:

Lacy Julian

Barley

Peerie Flooers

Snowflake Fingerless Gloves

5-1 Mittens

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Midnight Fiber and Fabric Podcast, Episode 21: I Say These Things

This week I talk about my SPAKAL project, the Braid Hills Cardigan, and the Spare Socks (I *did* cast on a sock!!! Why did I say last week that I wouldn't????)


Some of my favorite books that include finishing techniques:

Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book

Finishing School by Deborah Newton

Principles of Knitting by Jane Hyatt



weaving in ends video from knittinghelp.com


Winter Wear KAL: Let's knit together on some items for this winter- anything winter related can be connected to this KAL! Join in by tagging your work with #winterwearKAL on Instagram and Twitter.

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Midnight Fiber and Fabric Podcast, Episode 20: Make Friends with the Gauge Swatch

This week I finished the House Targaryen Socks (knit in Nerd Girl Yarns colorway Regenerate) and made a lot of progress on the Braid Hills cardigan. I also mentioned Soledad and my progress on my SPAKAL sweater project.

Question: How do you store your tools?

Today in Always Learning we discuss accurate body measurements, ease, and sizing with a gauge swatch. Use #knittinginvestment to tag your knitting investments on Instagram and Twitter.


The buttonhole I'm using on the Braid Hills Cardigan can be found on knittinghelp.com.

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Midnight Fiber and Fabric Podcast, Episode 19: Knitting Investments

This week I worked on the House Targaryen Socks, finished the Little Flower Hat, and cast on for the Braid Hills Cardigan.


Patty Lyons introduced me to Knitter's Graph Paper.


I talk about taking the time to invest in your knits by selecting great materials and planning ahead.

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Midnight Fiber and Fabric Podcast, Episode 18: Stitches Midwest!

This week I'm knitting the House Targaryen Socks (yarn from Nerd Girl Yarns) and the Jade Socks for my mom.


I attended Stitches Midwest last weekend. I saw a Babe Wheel up close, I got an amazing bag (Bummer) from Knerdshop, Little Red in the City by Ysolda Teague, and yarn from Kismet, Fresh from the Cauldron and Three Irish Girls.

{The supposed mini-skeins. I think only the dark purple ones count- your thoughts?}

At the podcaster meetup I met Prairie Girl Danie from Prairie Girl Knit and Spin Podcast, Emily from Knitting Butterflies, Boston Jen from Down Cellar Studio, and Paula and Bronwyn from Knitting Pipeline. They were all so kind and wonderful!

I took two classes at Stitches: Secrets of the Sleeve Cap Class with Patty Lyons (which is the first time anyone has ever made algebra truly relevant to my every day life) and From Hobby to Profession with Marly Bird.

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Midnight Fiber and Fabric Podcast, Episode 17: Making All the Plans

I'm still working on spinning the grey Shetland (from Spunky Eclectic) for the SPAKAL project.

I finished my Bright Lights Socks (Nerd Girl Yarns colorway: Glassical Phantasm)
working to free up needles so that I can work on the Braid Hills cardigan by Kate Davies that I mentioned in Episode 11. My new travel knit is House Targaryen in the NGY colorway Regenerate on the Astral base.

I *love* habitrpg- gaming for your daily accomplishments.


I'm excited to have the opportunity to go to Stitches Midwest this next weekend! I'm planning on two classes, one about pattern design and another about sleeve caps. The hardest decision has been how to pack my bags- I'm so excited for all the possibilities here!


My New Things this week are the NGY Random Fandom Yarn Club and hunting for sock patterns. I mention a few patterns:  Sock Recipe: A Good Plain Sock,  Leyburn Socks, Nutkin, Hermione's Every Day Socks, and Baroque. Please share your favorite sock patterns in comments!

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Tour De Fleece: Final Tally

Tour de Fleece finished up on Sunday and I learned so much about my spinning over the course of this event. I am so very happy with my progress!

By the Numbers:

:: I started with 32 ounces of grey Shetland from Spunky Eclectic.

:: I decided on a 3 ply, and I'm still very happy with this decision The yarn is wonderfully round, which is exactly what I wanted.

:: I decided to ply as I went on the advice of a more experienced spinning friend, and I am really glad I did.

:: I was able to spin 24 ounces and it is all plied.

:: I still have 8 ounces to spin, and my goal is to finish that by August 6.

What I Learned:

1. I'm still spinning fairly densely. Even though my yarn is the desired worsted weight when plied, it is *dense* and won't give me the yardage I had hoped for. I will get better at this as I go, but this means that Harvest is likely off the table as a project for this yarn. I'm completely fine with that and I'm looking for a different project instead.


2. While this felt like a gigantic project up front, it really hasn't been. I worried that I'd be bored with the fiber after spinning 6-8 ounces of it, but that hasn't been a problem. In fact, it's been a beautiful and calming part of my day to sit at the wheel without figuring out the next steps or watching color work it's magic. It's a much-needed meditation with this fiber.


3. Making spinning a priority lessened my time for other creative pursuits, but in a way I am happy with. In fact, I'm working on fall schedule things and building very regular spinning time in is part of that fall build.

How did your spinning work during the tour? 

Did you accomplish as much as you hoped for?

Spin Share

I'm working on spinning a little each day, and sharing my progress in this space on Fridays. 

Please join me! Share your spinning progress in comments- I'd love to see your work!

Last night I plied the 5th skein of Shetland so far. I have another 3 oz. waiting to be plied today, and I'm attempting to get another 1.5 oz. of singles onto the bobbins today to rest until I'm able to ply again tomorrow night. 

I will not get through all 32 oz. that I {secretly} wanted to get through, but I think I'll get close. I can reasonable expect that I might have 2 more skeins plied by late Sunday night, and maybe even another 2-3 oz. of singles complete by then, and I'm very happy with that. I have made so much progress this month, and I'm thrilled to have come through this project this well so far.

2 of the 5 skeins are different looking than the others- I used my new swift to wind the two longer skeins up so they aren't quite as short as the others. Each skein has very similar yardage, but the difference in how I formed the skeins makes them look significantly different. They've all had a soak, but I'm going to re-wind the shorter skeins to match the longer ones.

Have you been spinning this week? 

Share a link to your spinning progress in comments so that we can come visit your beautiful work!

Midnight Fiber and Fabric Podcast, Episode 16: The One with All the Spinning

This week I knit on my Bright Lights Socks (dyed by Nerd Girl Yarns) and worked on fall knitting plans to make sure everyone gets the necessary hats/mittens/Christmas gifts for this year. I also mentioned the Wildflower Cardigan by Alana Dakos.

I worked hard on spinning for my Tour de Fleece SPAKAL project since last podcast.

I'm really loving A Simple Plan Planner from Mardel.com and started collecting links about growing a cut flower garden on my Cut Garden Pinterest board. I also mention Song School Latin.

I ordered a few new tools from Fiber Artist Supply Co. and listed the top 5 Books on my Nightstand right now: Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne, Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon, Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon, The Yarn Whisperer by Clara Parkes, and Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist.

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Tour de Fleece Update #1

Tour de Fleece is taking over, and I mean that in the greatest of ways. I find myself finishing up my spinning for the day and automatically thinking forward to when I'll next be able to spin. My pile of wool is shrinking as my singles and plied skeins grow.


Below is my progress so far:

Day 1 (7/5)- 2 oz.
Day 2 (7/6)- 1 oz.
Day 3 (7/7)- plied 3 oz. together
Day 4 (7/8)- 1 oz.
Day 5 (7/9)- spun 1 oz.
Day 6 (7/10)- 1 oz.
Day 7 (7/11)- plied 3 oz. together.
Day 8 (7/12) - spun 2 oz.
Day 9 (7/13) - spun 1 oz.


The plan for today is to ply, and then maybe spin another ounce, but I'll have to see how work and school goes today. Did I mention we started back to a half schedule of school last week?

If you're spinning for Tour de Fleece, or even just spinning and want to share, be sure to post in comments so we can come visit your progress!

Spin Share

I'm working on spinning a little each day, and sharing my progress in this space on Fridays. 

Please join me! Share your spinning progress in comments- I'd love to see your work!

Over the first few days of the tour I spun 3 ounces and plied them into this first skein. I'm spinning more singles today and through the weekend, and hopefully by Monday or Tuesday I'll have more skeins to show you!

I'm really loving this Shetland and how it is spinning up. One of my boys thinks the sheepy smell of the wool is hilarious; the other is not amused. I think it's wonderful, of course!

Have you been spinning this week? 

Share a link to your spinning progress in comments so that we can come visit your beautiful work!

Midnight Fiber and Fabric Podcast, Episode 15: Encouraging Kids in Fiber Arts

We visited Maker Faire Kansas City June 28th at Union Station. We were excited to see Nerd Girl Yarns there again this year.

This week I mentioned my Neon socks, the Jade Socks for my mom, My SPAKAL sweater (Tour de Fleece spinning) hosted by the Knitmore Girls.

In the spinning portion, I mention Abby Franquemont's youtube videos, Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont and Start Spinning by Maggie Casey. Please come join Team Sasquatch for support while you spin!

I LOVE pink hair, I talk about encouraging kids in fiber arts and talk about trying to update my Ravelry page pictures (mention Soledad and Looped Loop).

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Spin Share

I'm working on spinning a little each day, and sharing my progress in this space on Fridays. 

Please join me! Share your spinning progress in comments- I'd love to see your work!

That is one ounce of singles split between 3 bobbins, ready to ply. I thought I might get to the plying last night, but after a very full week my body had other ideas and I went to bed early instead. I'm going to ply this afternoon and work this week on knitting up a swatch to see if I'm getting what I need for this particular project. 

This Shetland is a little grabbier than the merino I just finished spinning so I'm finding it a little easier to draft evenly. I'm excited to see it plied and washed.

Have you been spinning this week? 

Share a link to your spinning progress in comments so that we can come visit your beautiful work!

Midnight Fiber and Fabric Podcast, Episode 14: Get Ready for the Tour

We're ready for Maker Faire in Kansas City this week and looking forward to the Nerd Girl Yarns booth there. Tour de Fleece is also coming up July 5-27 - join Team Sasquatch for the tour!


I'm preparing for the SPAKAL sweater (hosted by the Knitmore Girls). I'm spinning mine out of Shetland combed top from Spunky Eclectic for the Harvest Cardigan by Tin Can Knits.

This week I finished my Earth Death Citron, cast on my Fluormania Regia socks and worked a little more on the Jade Socks for my mom.


I'm loving/hating picking out paint colors for the house this week, and enjoyed the I am Not a Rock Star Documentary from the BBC this week.


I got my hands on some Addi Sock Rockets (and put them to work on the Flourmania socks) and also bout the Magnum 500 Pocket Scale for weighing fiber and yarn.

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Spin Share

I'm working on spinning a little each day, and sharing my progress in this space on Fridays. 

Please join me! Share your spinning progress in comments- I'd love to see your work!

I wished for more spinning time this week, but my spinning fairy didn't show so I spent my limited spinning time this week prepping for what I hope to be a lot of spinning next week. The fiber I'm working with this week is Shetland in a pretty gray from Spunky Eclectic for my SPAKAL sweater. I have 2 pounds of this combed top and I divided it into 1 oz. balls this week in preparation for actually spinning come July 5. 

I also bought some leclerc 6" bobbins to use for storage bobbins and as of right now I'm planning to spin 1 oz. of singles on the wheel, then move that oz. to a storage bobbin. Then when I have about 9 oz. or so done I'll ply those singles and then go back to spinning singles. I had considered spinning all the singles first and then plying at the end, but I'm concerned about what that would do to my arms with so much plying in a row like that. I'm still thinking about it, but this is the plan for now.

Next week I'm going to finish my SPAKAL/Tour de Fleece prep by sampling and getting a good idea of what I'm aiming for in both my single and 3-ply. I'll start by splitting 1 oz. into thirds and spinning each third onto its own bobbin, then ply a small amount of 3-ply to knit with and make sure I'm getting a fabric I'm happy with. If it's not what I want, I'll adjust and spin up some more singles, ply and knit again. I'm planning to be officially ready to spin it up on Saturday July 5th for the Tour!

If you're planning to spin during Tour de Fleece and you need a team, please join us on Team Sasquatch! We would love to have you in this super encouraging group.

Have you been spinning this week? 

Share a link to your spinning progress in comments so that we can come visit your beautiful work!

Midnight Fiber and Fabric Podcast, Episode 13: Always Learning

Events: 

Knit in Public Week is NOW! June 14-22. Find somewhere to knit in public this week.

Maker Faire Kansas City

Nerd Girl Yarns

Tour de Fleece July 5-27

Team Sasquatch

My Tour de Fleece goal: 30 minutes a day on work days, 60 minutes a day on "At home" days"



What I'm Making:

This week I finished My Mom's Purple Socks, and ALMOST finished the Citron. I cast on my Lookin' Jadey Socks and hunted down 2 in progress sweaters: Wildflower Cardigan by Alana Dakos and Soledad by Annika Barranti.  Do you have any toddler sweater suggestions?

In spinning, I'm getting ready to sample for the Harvest Sweater by Tin Can Knits and attempting to spin the yarn I want for this sweater.

Want to share your spinning progress? Join us for Spin Share on Fridays to share your progress.



I share some Garden Notes and a new segment called Always Learning talk about the book Simplicity Parenting and the Craftsy Class Sizing Knitwear Patterns.


Try New Things: How do you feel about Knit-Alongs?


Top 5: Favorite Summer Things (I mention: Door to Door Organics)

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Spin Share

I'm working on spinning a little each day, and sharing my progress in this space on Fridays. 

Please join me! Share your spinning progress in comments- I'd love to see your work!

I finished plying this merino this week and ended up with about 200 yards of 3-ply. It's been washed and dried and it is somewhere between sport weight and worsted weight. I've been thinking about a project for this yarn, and I think it's going to end up a hat because of yardage, but a cowl or scarf of some kind sounds really nice. I need to go on a pattern hunt.

I received the fiber for my SPAKAL sweater. It's a beautiful grey shetland from Spunky Eclectic. I'm looking forward to working with this fiber. over the next few months from spinning through the finished knitted project. Over the next week I'm going to spin singles to sample and get everything set up so that I'm ready to start spinning with the Tour on July 5.

Have you been spinning this week? 

Share a link to your spinning progress in comments so that we can come visit your beautiful work!

Midnight Fiber and Fabric Podcast, Episode 12: Tangled

The Berry Socks are complete! My Mom's Socks are very close to done. I cast on another pair for her. I'm also worked on finishing my Citron and completed section 7. One more section and the ruffle to go!


I wound sock yarn this week, including a skein from Nerd Girl Yarns and part of a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere. I'm still trying to sort out the mess from that last skein.

SPAKAL= Spin Along, Knit Along event held by the Knitmore Girls. I ordered the fiber for my SPAKAL sweater from Spunky Eclectic- a grey Shetland wool. I will be spinning for the Harvest sweater by Tin Can Knits.

My goals for Tour de Fleece are to spin for at least 30 minutes each day, aiming for an hour on days I don't work (and of course taking breaks to protect my arms) and to try to finish the singles for my SPAKAL sweater by the end of the tour.


Want to spin along during Tour de Fleece? Join Team Sasquatch! The team is made up of several podcasters and podcast listeners all spinning together. You don't have to be spinning for the SPAKAL project or any other particular goal- set your own plan in place and join us for fun and conversation.


I LOVE Bic Mark-It Markers and keeping scissors everywhere I craft. SO convenient.


I introduce a new segment this week: Garden Notes. This week I have a guest host for this segment- my son Ender.


For the Try New Things segment, I talk about needles. I currently have interchangeable Addi Turbos that I use for any projects not knit on DPNs and I love them. I'm looking at getting some Addi Sock Rockets in the near future. I've been thinking about getting Signature DPNs, but that may have to wait to see how many DPNs I drop and lose in the near future. I'm also interested in trying out the Knitter's Pride Needles and Hiya Hiya needles. What are your favorite needles?

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