Little Pink Yarn Along

{Yarning along with Ginny this week, sharing a knit and a book. Won't you share with us too?}

Don't let that sunshine fool you- yesterday was gorgeous and bright (although a little chilly) and today sees us under winter storm warning, gray and cold. Such is our winter weather for the last several years in a row. We are learning to love layering and keeping access to our warmer weather clothing for those days that beg to be spent outside, but we don't dare to put the winter clothing away!


I'm working on a Baby Vertebrae for Ellie. The newborn sized vertebrae has been much used and loved- in fact, I was cramming her into that little cardi one last time not too long ago and found myself thinking, sure the arms are only 5/8 sleeves now and the back actually ends about an inch above her waistline, but we LOVE this cardi! So she can still wear it, right?


Poor girl. So she's been using the Helena I knit her for Christmas. While it's a lovely cardigan (and she is a big fan of chewing on the ties), the fact that it has a front means that she wants to take it off all the time. I have to say that that is what makes the Baby Vertebrae the perfect cardi for a crawler. Because it is a front-less cardigan it is never in her way! In fact it is so out of the way that she leaves it on in perfect contentment, rarely gets food on it and can crawl and clap and dance to her hearts content without interference from her sweater.

Perfection.

I started reading An Everlasting Meal over the weekend and I'm taking serious notes, people. It has invited me to plan for this spring, summer and fall's food in a way that I haven't in awhile. I'm more excited than ever about this year's garden and I'm ready for this summer's light teaching schedule so I can cook my way through this text without ignoring my children.

To Remember

Soil for a foundation 

A few rocks as a path

A small pot for a tomb and the rest of our soil across the top

Three crosses of twigs and twine and a bit of grass seed, 

ready to grow over the next many weeks leading to Easter.

This Week

This was our one week that happens every so often and makes our family a little crazy- the week both Brian and I work Monday-Thursday. Not a lot is accomplished by anyone this week, and that is okay.

On the Needles...

I'm finishing up little baby things for this weekend's baby shower and I also finished the first sock in my pair of annual socks.

I read...

Still working on The Mysterious Benedict Society because I can only seem to read a page or two before falling asleep this week.

In the Kitchen...

I usually reserve this space for things we've made in the past week, but our refrigerator died early this week and I think it's worth noting. I was able to move several things to the freezer that we caught in time, and the repair guy is supposed to make it today.

Watching...

I caught up on Downton Abbey Monday night. Oh my goodness! It should have had a "tissues required" warning at the beginning.

Listening...

I listened to the Knitmore Girls ep. 216, and a few back episodes of Stuff You Missed in History Class.

This weekend...

It's a busy one- we have a birthday party for my nephew, craft night, and a double baby shower.

Knit Along

{Knitting along with Ginny this week 

sharing what is on my needles and what I am reading. 

Won't you join us?}

I'm working on several things this week- namely baby items. We have a double baby shower this weekend for my sister and my sister-in-law and I'm one sleeve, one button band, and a little bit of seaming away from 2 finished cardigans. I'm kind of hoping to get two little hats in there, but we'll see how much time I have left after the cardigans are done. The goal is to block the cardigans by Friday so they will be in perfect shape for Sunday. I'll make sure to share pictures once they've been gifted.

 The most exciting knitting this week is the completion of the first sock in my annual pair of socks:  

I'm knitting vanilla socks cuff-down based on the recipe in Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's book Knitting Rules! I was a little concerned about yardage when I cast on the first sock so I went with a little shorter leg this time.

Heel turning is still one of my favorite things in the knitting world.

Book-wise I'm reading The Mysterious Benedict Society on my kindle. It's reminiscent of The Westing Game which I remember reading in 5th or 6th grade. The boys and I are also finishing up Ramona the Pest. We had a nice literary moment during our football party on Sunday night during the national anthem when Ezra cried out, "It's the dawnzer song!!!" 

As a kindergartener himself he feels very close to Ramona in this book.

What are you knitting and reading lately?

Spinning!

I made a few fiber related goals for myself at the beginning of the year and one of those goals is to take a few classes this year to help me expand my skill set. I started my goal by taking my first ever spinning class all day this past Saturday.


Spinning has been a growing interest for me over the last year and a half, but I talked myself out of it a few times as I wondered where I would possibly find the time. The next thoughts were about the expense of a wheel and the portability factor since a large reason that I fell deep into knitting instead of sewing has to do with portability. As I kept reading on the subject I came across Abby Franquemont's book Respect the Spindle and both those questions were answered- I could learn to spin with a $20 spindle and have a high portability factor. So I seriously started to look into spinning.


I found my desire to learn thoroughly intensified as I listened to more and more of the Knitmore Girls' podcasts and that was it- I signed up for a class at the beginning of the year. I've had a few interests in the past where my curiosity has been satisfied after reading up on the topic or pursuing a class and I thought maybe the same would be true here.


Truly it was so much more than I thought it would be and all the better for it.


I learned to spin on a drop spindle in the morning session as well as learning a lot more about raw fleece and the process it goes through to become yarn. We got started on the wheels just before lunch and had a chance to figure out the mechanics before the break. When we came back we spun with the wheel for over 2 hours. the 3rd hour we spent on a quick plying lesson and I came home with about 40 yards of my first handspun.

Not too bad for a first yarn, right? You can see a huge difference between the white and the blue- the white is the very first single I spun and the blue is the second single The white has a lot more "thick and thin" to it as I was learning. You can see where I was experimenting with how to hold my hands. The blue single is far more consistent in size, but I had problems with too much twist in some places. I learned in the class how to even that out some, but extra twist leaked in all over the place. The red in there is a little tail of the leader yarn I haven't snipped off yet.


Plying was a big challenge for me, partly because we only got a short lesson on it at the end, and partly because it's a completely different motion.


I was able to use the Schacht Matchless, which is one of the wheels I'm considering for at home. I really liked the feel of it as well as the aesthetic. I also spun for a little bit on a Louet and didn't like it as well. It was a little funny because my mom took the class with me and she really liked the Louet wheel except for the location of the lazy kate. She found the Matchless to be harder to treadle. I'm also going to spin on the Schacht Ladybug when I go back and see what the difference is.


I came home with a Schacht Hi-Lo spindle, a pound of undyed roving and 4 oz. of dyed roving to start with. My goal is to practice for 15 minutes per day over the next 2 weeks.

I have a feeling this is going to be a common view. 

Ellie loves the wool. 

She wants the wool. 

She tries to eat the wool.

She was only successful in grabbing a tiny bit once and stuffing it in her mouth, but she scraped it right out of there and glared at me for a good half hour afterwards.

Now to start saving for that wheel.