Twists of Fate

I’m participating in the Spin for Peace group on Ravelry for the duration of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. Instead of watching the games, I’m going to spend that time in mindful meditation at my wheel.

I am posting a few links tonight as a reminder that while China has made some steps towards improving their human rights record (and yes, I realize how hypocritical it is for a US citizen to be saying this, given the actions of our government, especially since 9/11), they have not done enough.

None of us are free until ALL of us are free.

A couple of links for you. International Campaign for Tibet and Bev’s post, with a great link to Pippi Knee Socks’ Free Tibet yarn.

I wanted to dye up some fiber in the orangey-red color I see so many Buddhist monks wear, or the darker reddish version I’ve seen the nuns wear, but it seemed disrespectful. Instead I’m spinning some Shetland wool roving I got in a sampler pack, and I hope time will allow me to make something out of it that I can then auction or raffle, with the proceeds going to an organization dedicated to helping Tibetan refugees living in India.

I am one voice, but I will add mine to the chorus protesting China’s treatment of the Tibetan people, and call for an end to the occupation of Tibet.

Kitt: “Do you have a goal?”
Other hooker: “I always wanted to be in the Ice Capades.”

Bowerbird knits has a great post with all kinds of good info today. The contest really makes me think, though. I kind of went on in the comments, but I’ll just C&P here, as it really encapsulates what I want.

I want to make things and have people buy them. I’m thinking mostly batts that I’ll blend by hand, and hopefully some dyed yarns. I have nearly all the pieces assembled, and now I just need to finish organizing the studio, make up my bases and…go. I’m terrified, frankly, but look forward to it.

Most of all? I want to find some balance. This past couple of years has been crazy with work taking over everything. So much so that I’ve spent the majority of the past two months recovering from that consulting gig. I don’t ever want to be drained to that point ever again. I want to treat myself better, to be healthier, to learn to say no to the things that are incredibly unreasonable but also the things that aren’t really in scope for what I do. I need to work to live, not live to work. This is my main goal for the foreseeable future.

So there you go. I’m hoping to have my first blends up in September. I carry a couple of notebooks around with me all the time, jotting down thoughts and color ideas. I have no training, no knowledge beyond what I know in books and have read on the web, but I’m going to do this anyway.

I couldn’t stand it any longer. I bought a couple of really amazing silk hankies from Crown Mountain Farms at Madrona in February. Even though I had no idea what to do with them. You can see the colorway Tartan here. Beautiful, no? They were so pretty I wanted to frame them if I didn’t use them.

Anyway, they’ve been taunting me with their pretty, and I have to figure this out. I watched a groovy YouTube on drafting and using them on a wheel, which was awesome. But I have a migraine and don’t want to go over to the studio where all the wheels are living at the moment.

So, my question as I work on drafting the layers (and, by the way, should there be a disconcerting…ripping…sound while doing this?) what weight spindle for these? Or does it matter? I usually work best at about a 1.5 oz, so most of my spindles are about that weight. But I always read about people who are using really, really lightweight tools for silk. Does it matter, in the end, with this form of silk?

For those of us in the PNW who like to do the rest of the process ourselves but don’t have washing facilities…. FYI that Ferndale Fiber in WA state is no longer accepting new customers, and though their website states that they have “washing only” services, Dawn’s Custom Carding also in WA state will only wash if taking your fiber all the way through the rest of their services (picking, carding, possibly dyeing).

I keep reading about how septic tanks can get all clogged and totally unhappy if you do a lot of fleece washing. I’m still not sure if this is true, but the last thing I want to do is fuck up the septic tank here at my rental apartment. Most of my fleeces are in the medium range, though I do have some Cormo, Merino and Corriedale that are all kinda greasy (but in a good way).

I don’t want to have to pay to ship the damn fiber back out to someone just to wash it. I might as well have people do all the damn processing again, and right now I can’t really afford that until I’m employed again.

GRRRR!

I just sent one of the folks who boards her horse here home with a spindle and a couple of kinds of roving. Some of the pin-drafted roving I had processed by Spinderella’s in Utah last year from a Skylines Farm fleece, and some of the lovely Dragonfibers hand dyed goodness. We had a short five minute lesson to cover the basics, and I sent her an email with some links to videos and other sites with spindling info.

Muuahahahahahaha! One person at a time. Heh.

Some days, the best you can hope for is to actually be wearing pants when the hot UPS man arrives.

Fiber content: knitting on Kauni Hat the Second continues. Spinning? I have this urge to spin and absolutely no get up and go to make it happen. Today is a cold, depressing, sad kind of day. I blame the intermittent crying on PMS.

I’ve been in contact with a new-to-me local person who does fiber washing, but their email persona is really quite brusque. I’m not sure I want to take my business to them. Maybe I’ll go with one of the more established folks, even if it’s a longer drive. I went on another fleece buying binge (could be worse, right?) and, well. Yeah. I can do some of them myself, but I think the merino/crosses need to go to someone else. I just can’t get the water here hot enough, even with addition of water from an electric kettle.

Today is blah. At least stray kitty was happy to see me (aka didn’t hiss when I went to put out her food).

Anyone else out there an Avenue Q fan? If so you’ll recognize the title. And maybe, if I am evil enough, you’ll be singing it all day too. :D

I’ve lost all my words about the workshop with Carol Rhodes, but suffice it to say that she is FULL of awesome and fabulous and a wonderful teacher. I learned quite a lot about fleece selection for spinning the Arans (not likely, because I hate me some bobbles yo), Guernseys (somewhat more likely if I really decide I love my brother, the merchant marine) and Fair Isle (possible, but not anytime soon) yarns and patterns.

For Aran yarns, we spun two different fleeces. I tripped and fell and bought some Cheviot, which I learned is pronounced Chee-vee-ott, and it’s sitting and waiting for me to wash it. The Galway (I think? I can’t find my little booklet from the class…I think it’s in the studio with the wheel) fleece is hard to find outside of Ireland. I can see where I may want to do an Aran hat or maybe some mittens with a wristband that has some cables, but dude. The bobbles. I hate the bobbles. I have a bobble loathing that is probably fairly unreasonable, but seriously, why wear something that looks like you’re wearing cat testicles proudly on your clothing?

With the Guernseys, I learned that I really love pure Blue Faced Leicester in combed top format, but am no so much with the enjoying of the personally combing or carding it. Those spiral, crimpy locks are lovely to look at and a bitch to work with. I want to roll around with it in soft focus and maybe a suggestive soundtrack (the FLEECE people, this ain’t a Dolores production), as long as it’s clean, but if you want me to spin it? Pure BFL in combed top please. I did find that the Scotch Mule crossbred fleece was MUCH easier to work with, as the teeny tiny curls were magnified so it was easier to work with, and I think my best yarn of the entire weekend was spun with the two locks of that Carol was able to share. I am tracking some of that down for next year (they already sold the whole ‘08 clip foo…and yes, I googled it) and getting me some.

Last but not least were the Shetlands, who are small, cute, and too smart for their own good. Sadly, by this point in the weekend I was spinning wounded and totally on overload. I did get that there is a remarkable amount of variety in the breed, that I could spend just about forever working with just the natural colored palette that the beasties come in, and that a true moorit is a beautiful thing to see. Also, when I’m tired I can’t spin nearly fine enough to make a Fair Isle weight yarn.

I would be QUITE remiss if I didn’t mention that Suzanne, part of the brains behind Madrona Fiber Arts, is a damn fine cook. Plus, the house was gorgeous, and Rakish Joe and the super sweet Diva were quite welcome distractions for someone who has no animals of her own. Besides the dustbunnies that roam the land that is my apartment, I mean. Suzanne was a gracious host for the hordes, and mmmmmm good eats. I didn’t even mind driving from where I love out to the house, which seemed like a really long drive in the 7am hour for three days in a row.

Anyway. Good Eats (sans Alton). Fab teacher with a Table of Happy (many knitted samples). Great classmates who put up with my severe crankiness when trying to ply from three wound balls (never again). All in all, well worth the money and I am very much looking forward to the Bohus class next month!

And now, to the porn. While buying up some of the types of fleeces we worked with in class (though I did go with roving for some of it), some of my other purchases arrived. For some reason, I keep getting Coopworth and Corriedale mixed up in my head. I really didn’t enjoy working with the Coopworth roving I purchased when I first began spinning. Maybe it was a strange batch, but it reeked of a weird glue-like smell and was really really rough. I’ve shunned Corriedale because I thought it was similar, but then pulled my head out and got to reading, and from what I understand it’s really quite a lot softer, finer, and if these fleeces from Twin Peaks Sheep and Wool Company in Colorado are some of the best of the breed? I’m a happy happy camper indeed.

Holly, right out of the bag she shipped in.

And some of the fiber washed up today. I always let my fleeces soak overnight in water with half a squirt of Dawn. Then I drain, wash twice (these only needed once) with three squirts of Dawn and then two rinses. I got a new toy that spins out so much more water than the salad spinners did and it’s worth every single penny I paid for it.

I’m rather pleased with how well the “locks” stayed together here, even if they all fluffed up into a mass that makes it difficult to really distinguish individual locks. The crimp is super obvious in the fleece, but the individual locks really kind of blend together into these big blocks that stayed together well in the wash.

Not the best pictures of the washed fleeces, but I used the Crackberry camera, and lightened them a bit when I uploaded them. I need to work on a lighting plan for the studio. The carpet is a dark teal and it faces mostly north.

OH! Before I forget, I must thank my favorite NOR-ma for the lovely pink sock kit I won from her blog contest! We share a birthday, and she was giving this away on the day. And then Sandy pulled my comment number out of the morass and lo, I won! On my birthday! For a giveaway she did for her birthday! The cosmic coming-togetherness boggles my little peabrain. But it’s happymaking, and it came with a card that I believe is a January One special (I could be wrong and please do correct me Norma if you read this and I am wrong) and it was very warm fuzzy inducing when I opened the package today.

Whew. A long post, but there was lots to talk about for once!