Balance

I just posted seven new listings in my Etsy shop.  I'm going to show a quick rundown of those things first.  But then, there were two other things I created over the past few days that didn't make it into the shop that I really want to talk about...

First, the new items..

I acquired 20 skeins of washable wool.  Turns out, even though they are washable they are not soft enough for an against-the-skin garment.  However, they would be great for Amigurumi projects.  Amigurumi is the Japanese art of crocheting (or knitting) little figures.

These are usually toys and usually in the shape of animals.  I have also seen food, people, and just about anything else the creator can imagine.  I have personally made a starfish and a hermit crab.  Anyway, I spent all day Thursday and most of Friday playing with the dyes.  In the end I split each skein in half and grouped them into 5 different groups of 4 mini skeins each.

Red and Orange

Yellow and Green

Turquoise and Teal

Pink and Purple

Black, Brown, and Blue

Each of the sampler packs is listed at $17.  I usually charge $18-$22 for a 100 gram skein of my hand painted yarn.  So, for less than I usually charge the customer will get the same 100 grams but in 4 colors.  Not a bad deal.

Then, there are two new High Society Sock Yarns.  I decided to name my sock yarn line "High Society" because a pair of hand knit socks makes your feet feel like a million bucks.  The new colors are:

Opening Night

and Red Carpet

Now, for the two things I won't be selling...

Unbraided roving

I purchased two braids of undyed Corriadale roving.  I dyed one of them.  Problem is a complete lack of confidence when it comes to dyeing fiber versus yarn.  With yarn, I can see what I am doing as I apply the dye.  When I am "painting" with the dye I wrap each section of the yarn or fiber in plastic wrap.  When I am done dyeing the whole thing I sort of bundle the whole thing up and wrap it again so that there is no leaking.  I tend to use more dye than the yarn or fiber can absorb (I'm working on that as it is a cost as well as aesthetic issue).  So, consequently when I take the bundle out at the end of the heating process it is hard to see the true color of the item through the extra (and now all run together and dark and icky looking) dye.  With yarn, this is not a big problem.  As soon as I free it from the plastic wrap cocoon I can see my work.  A quick rinse later confirms what I already knew.  The yarn is perfect, gorgeous, and exactly what I thought it would be.  With the roving, it's a lot harder to tell.  The colors that I put down first have soaked into the center of the fiber.  The dark mix left at the end has been taken up by many of the outer fibers.  So, the braid that I dyed with purple, black, brown, turquoise, cobalt, green, yellow, orange, fuchsia, and red looked mostly black, brown and dark purple even after the rinse.  

So, I started doubting myself.  I tried peeking into the braid.  I saw some amazing little bits of the colors I had intended.  Even so, I loosened up the braid further.  At this point I was debating whether I wanted to sell this (my first braid I dyed) or spin it myself.  Finally, curiosity got the better of me...

Unbraided and split into quarters

Not only did I unbraid the whole thing, but I also started splitting the fibers down the length of the roving.  First in half, and then again into quarters.  Turns out to be everything I was aiming for.  And more!  Of course, now that it is split I will be spinning it myself.  I just need to remember to trust my instincts with this stuff.  That is easier said than done!

The other item not making it into the shop is my most recent self striping yarn.  This was my first attempt using a frame instead of having the monster skein in long form running from my dining room through the living room to the family room.  With a frame, I can contain it in a small space yet still have the long repeat necessary.  This was also my first attempt at long color changes and subtle changes using a lot of colors.

The skein as dyed. Wet.

Dry.  Re-skeined.

Swatched on size 0, 80 stitches around.

Someone had asked me about a rainbow self-striping sock yarn.  I used 12 colors to get a full color wheel.  But, I did 2 things that I am not happy about.  First, I went down the frame (red, red-orange, orange...red-purple) and instead of coming back up and reversing the color order, I carried the yarn from the end back up to the beginning.  What this means is that the yarn is directional AND there is this weird bit of all the colors before it starts over again.  Secondly, I had intended to have long color repeats but had a brain fart on the math and they ended up being a third of what I wanted.  On the swatch above it takes 21 rows for the colors to start over again.  It should have been more like 63.  And, had I made the colors non-directional it would have been a whopping 120ish rows.

So, it seems that as in life, dyeing yarn and fiber is a balancing act.  I need to learn to let go a little more and trust myself when it comes to working with fiber.  And at the same time, I need to slow down, check myself, and think through some of the more technical things.

Has it been that long already?

I've told the story of my learning to knit many times.  How as a kid I drew all the time (mostly horses) and doodled incesantly (graphic design, very angular, repetitive).  How I got my first SLR camera when I graduated high school. How my childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian was chucked when I found out that my innate intelectual ability would only take me so far and I would have to (GASP!) learn to study (and work hard) if that was what I truly wanted. How I got an Associates Degree in Photography from the local (and wonderful) community college and went on to get a Bachelor's of Fine Art in Photography from Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia.  How my wonderful other Mom (MIL) taught me how to cross-stitch and quilt. How I had dabbled in crochet (I can make a granny square or edge a sweater and that's about it). And how, for no known reason, decided to knit a baby blanket for Angie's child-to-be (now the lovely Reagan who is 4 and in pre-kindergarten at the same school our boys attend).

I will forever remember sitting at work one night with the 10 page booklet of knitting instruction and patterns on the desk in front of me and a bamboo knitting needle (size 8) and some crap cotton yarn in my lap (when not busy we were allowed to do whatever we wanted--within reason).  I bet I spent half an hour looking at the picture of the long-tail cast-on then looking at my hand, the yarn, and the needle and then the book, then my hand...  I finally placed the yarn around the fingers of my left hand exactly how it looked in the book.  Not the way you would normally do it.  I literally wound it around without any clue how a knitter would go about it.  But once I had it around my fingers and in my hand I got it!  I looks and feels like a rubberband slingshot (just with the circle 'open') I had used on many occassions back in grade school (don't ask).

It's been all downhill since.  I had never been into fashion (in any way at all).  But I found a physical understanding of these things we do with sticks and string.  A viceral A-HA! moment.  

Before my first year as someone who knits was over I discovered Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka the Yarn Harlot), her first two books, and her blog.  I joined the Knitting Olympics.  I knit my first pair of socks.  I became a Knitter.

That was five (5!!) year ago (approximately, I don't know the exact date but it was close enough to Feb 1st to make that the defacto anniversary date) on Monday.  

I almost let it slip by unnoticed until I saw Steph's recent post on her blog's 6th anniversary (congratulations, BTW) and found myself telling someone on Twitter this morning that I have been knitting for 5 years.

Wow!  What a difference just a few years makes.  So, to everyone who has ever posted about knitting (or spinning, or weaving, or crocheting, or designing...) and to all of the independant dyers and designers, and to the yarn shop owners, and the Etsy Sellers and especially the buyers, and to the folks who created as well as those who use Raverly, and Twitter, and Facebook...  to those people who attend the Fiber Festivals and the folks who bring all of their fiber loveliness to these events, and expecially to the people who make these things happen...  to the courageous people who turn their ideas about fiber in all of its forms into the books I have in my collection of inspiration...and most importantly, to my family (for encouraging me even when something goes a bit wonky and wouldn't fit a gorilla on a good day and for putting up with the Stash taking over the house and for tollerating (albeit with a grumble) my knitting instead of cleaning on most days)...

Thank-You

That said, the following are some pictures of some of the things I have done in the past 5 years (not all good).

Things that make you say, "Hmmm".

I'm working on a lot of things right now.  I know.  We all have a million different projects in the works.  But my ADD is really on the attack lately.  I think it has something to do with the twitter KAL.  That was the first project in ages where I cast on and didn't even look at or think about any other knitting, spinning, dyeing, felting, designing, blogging, photography (you get the idea) projects until I had cast off AND blocked the darn thing.  Now, I am suffering the repurcussions of that intense focus.  None.

I haven't had a sale on Etsy in 15 days.  To be fair, there's not much there in the way of my favorite thing, sock yarn.  I do have a bunch of gorgeous hand spun yarn and some pretty cool worsted weight hand dyed yarns (if you like rust, yellow and green especially).  Look under new listings.  I'm de-stashing some of the first stuff I ever dyed.

On a dyeing note, I am currently playing with my dyes.  Working on new formulations for blends of colors.  I should be doing some test runs on actual yarn in the next few days.  Once that is finished (and I get new raw materials) I plan to go full tilt in creating new colorways.  I have TONS of color combinations in mind.  Everything from almost solid, tone-on-tone to pure craziness.  What I would really apreciate from you, dear Reader, is the answer to these two questions:

1.  What is your absolute favorite, gotta-have-it color or color combination?

2.  When buying sock yarn, do you prefer buying two 50 gram skeins or one 100 gram skein?

That's all on that topic.  Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.  Seriously, your answers to those two would be a HUGE help.  Thank you.

On other topics, (and you don't need to answer this in writing unless you feel the urge)...for those of you who knit socks or want to learn how to knit socks: when using a pattern are you looking for the crazy-complex, multi-twisting cables and or lacework, or do you prefer simple but elegant?  I know they are not mutually exclusive but...  I have been working on a pair of socks for my husband, Addison.  

They are a simple ribbed sock.  The elegant part though is that at the gusset I arranged the stitches in such a way so that at the beginning of the decreases you split one of the ribbing sections and when the decreases are done they come back together.  It forms this beautiful triangle at the side of the ankle and the all-over ribbing makes the socks feel thicker and squishier than they would otherwise.  

It also makes for a better fit.  The sock gently hugs the foot.   I ask about patterns because I am thinking of submitting this to Knit Picks Independent Designer Program.  But when I looked at all of the patterns on their site, these seem awfully plain in comparison.  Yet, I have had a lot of knitters ooh-ing and ah-ing over them lately (maybe the're just being polite). Any thoughts?

And, finally: I am working on a shawl that I call "Ruby with Diamonds" because the batts I spun this from (made by @fibermonster and found here) are called Ruby and it has a diamond pattern (yea, I'm that simple). 

I have also refered to this project as "Shawl in 3 Parts".  When I started knitting this I had nothing particular in mind.  I cast on 3 stitches and just started knitting.  When I bound off I had this interesting shape. 

I thought it was so interesting that I started a second one.  Once I got far enough along I realized they would fit together.  So, further intrigued, I ordered more Ruby and spun like crazy.  I am now on the third section.  I decided that rather than do a simple join of the pieces (where's the challenge in 'simple'?) I am going to knit a square section sort of like a knit on edging where I will attach it to the two pieces as I knit it.  

Then (drumroll please) I will design some sort of edging to go all the way around.  And at that point I will say a prayer to the knitting goddess that I still have enough yarn.  Or call FiberMonster again.  Whichever.