One Geek to Craft Them All

Yesterday was all about the animals, and today is all about the stuff. I’d have to say there was concentrated awesome with the vendors. I had to refrain from buying things.

There is one corner of the vendors, outside the barn also full of a variety of vendors.  Let’s start with the swag from the Vogue knitting bag. Which came in the Vogue Knitting bag usually found at VKLive, which pleases me as the one I had developed a tear late Sunday at the last VKLive and is now my fiber stash bag.  Inside there were some coupons, a program and a couple free magazines.

One of the first places I stopped was the Vogue Knitting booth where I grabbed a book I had been pondering since I saw a couple reviews of it. Hopefully I will use it and use it well.

Knit notes, a handy designer project notebook. As I put together a design box last weekend, I feel like this was the last ingredient I didn’t know I was missing. Now on to the yarn and fiber. I only bought one skein of yarn. Really.

It was a skein of  Hampton Artistic Yarn in the Enchantment Colorway and their silver flicker base.  Seems my sparkle addiction is alive and well.

I also bought some emerald sparkle for future blending experiments and an ounce of Merino cashmere silk, that I think I will be spinning with the plans to make myself a really warm hat or a pair of gloves after plying it with something colorful. I’m sure something in the stash will jump out at me when I get to it.

Spindle and Fleece lived up to its name with the purchases I made there.  This is where I got my first support Spindle.

I started trying it out on the bus.  with the sample fiber that was included in my bag.  It will take some getting used to as I keep treating it like a drop spindle when not paying attention, but some tips from fellow bus riders seems to have me going in the right direction… when I remember to follow them.

And these are the different bags of fiber I grabbed. One is for a friend. I swear!  This is the point where I had seen everything I wanted to and the next sheering event wasn’t for an hour or so. As I wandered back towards the benches where there had been lunch. I noticed a lone table where some one was set up from Martha Clara Vineyards. I went over tasted all the wines, and after a few minutes of chatting crossed the road and did a wine tasting flight.

These are two of the five wines I tasted, and my favorites of the set. I tend to go towards lighter sweeter wines, though not too sweet. I usually only drink whites so this was a pleasant turn. I will have to find a reason to have a couple friends over and enjoy. I may wait until my birthday where I have been pondering a cocktail party, as in mixing fancy and interesting drinks, possibly post eating obscene amounts of  good shellfish which is surprisingly hard to do in NYC for some reason.

At this point it was nearing the end of the day for us as the return bus was scheduled for 4:30 and we were to gather by 4:15. After watching the alpaca who was wholly against this sheering business I headed to my last stop of the day.

The Long Island Livestock Company   I got a few supplies I had been tempted by and something I had been meaning to buy for ages for my boots and shoes, Leather Conditioner.  Along with some body butter that will likely see more use in winter and lanolin based lip balm.

And that was everything I grabbed at the Long Island Fleece and Fiber Festival and I think I will be going again next year, and tempt  more fellow knitter with a wine and cheese break.  Someone described it as a great town fair while Rhinebeck was Disney.  And I could see it, there was no rushing around, or huge crowds, and while there was a chance something would be gone if you didn’t buy it, it was a calmer event. And a fun start to my fiber season. I’ll see you next year LI F&FF!

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Knitting, Spinning festival, fiber, lifff, wine, yarn

Saturday was the 4th annual LI Fleece and Fiber Festival. I grabbed the bus out of NYC hosted by Subway Knits  and Sponsored by Vogue Knitting.  It was great fun. And I spent a surprising amount of time watching demonstrations.

Sheep Sheering 

I even got a short video (youtube) of the sheep being sheered if you want to take a look. But I didn’t stop there. Later I wandered back to a Llama sheering.

Llama Sheering

The llama was very calm throughout this. And had an attitude of its Tuesday, haircut time.

Sheering in Progress

Post Sheering Giving Kisses

So coming back for the alpaca sheering after a pretty calm llama was quite the change of pace. It took a few minutes to get the alpaca put on the the sheering table because it was putting up a fight.

Nooooooo I don’t wanna

Noooo I was so fluffy

The Indignity of it All

It was great fun watching all these demonstrations, and I will be posting about all the swag I made off with tomorrow. I may have made it to the vineyard across the street as well.  Whistle. And got a new toy.

More on that tomorrow.

In completly unrelated geekery go read about a friend and I running into Matt Smith last night over at pinkraygun.com  Because Brooklyn

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Knitting, Spinning alpaca, Doctor Who, festival, lifff, llama, sheep

With a mostly done Allegheny, I have hit that odd place of no new project so I decided to pull out something I had been planning on making fro some time. Bloomery. After casting on with the wrong size needles (go me!) I have pulled out my oft neglected Addi Turbos and cast on again.  460 stitches cast on I very slowly made my way through row one while watching the Drag Race Finale.

Sixty stitch repeats are a pain. I think  now that I have it marked off I should be better at row three. And I mean there are only 113 rows. That’s easy right?  Eep. And on top of that I have the design bug gnawing at me. Something Steampunk inspired is poking past the accessory plan.

I also have thoughts on chronicling this and my next spinning project day by day in photos.

Bloomery Day 1

We’ll see how that works out. Also I plan to cast on the Bergen Street Cardigan in the next few days.

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Knitting bloomery, WIP

Sorta. Ish.

I have a complete sweater dress.

One sleeve is longer than the other and has more ribbing.  This is the sleeve I want to rip out. I bound off the other sleeves and it is theoretically at the moment done and has been since about 11:42pm on April 28th. This is important because it was a dissertation for Nerd Wars and the 28th at 12am is the end of the tournament.

Look at me taking late night pictures with my phone for quick uploading.  But I still have to redo the bottom half of the sleeve. Mostly I want to decrease about 4 stitches around and match it the complete right sleeve.

I also have to decide if I want to make the belt. I had decided against it, then I got my last Steampunk club shipment from Gnome Acres and it came with some great wooden buttons that I think would look good as a belt button. And I of course still have to tack down the bottom of the skirt.

Ah, my nemesis, Finishing, we meet again.

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Knitting allegheny, FOs, sweater dress

4kcbwday7 Looking Forward One year from now, when the 5th Knitting & Crochet Blog Week rolls around, where do you hope your crafting will have taken you to? What new skills, projects and experiences do you hope you might have conquered or tried?

The skill that comes to mind is tied to the post from yesterday about tools. It goes back to spinning. I have been planning to look at spinning wheels in the fall, likely at Rhinebeck. I have not decided if I will also make a purchase then. But I have been slowly gathering information while thinking about what space and room I have.

Like this knitting thing, its clear spinning is not something that is a quick fad for me. It is something that I want to learn more of and embrace. I also want to learn moe techniques in spinning. I haven’t Navajo, chain, or mad three ply yarn. All things I want to try and hopefully get a hold of.  I bought a sampler of Puni style rolags to give long draw a spinning a try. I want to get a support spindle and give that a try.

So one of my major goals over the next year is to expand my spinning. Something I can hopefully do, as the months go on. It’s not a if I will be running out of fiber anytime soon.

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Knitting 4KCBW, 4KCBWDAY7, plans

4KCBWDAY6 - A Tool To Covet Write about your favourite knitting or crochet (or spinning, etc) tool. It can either be a tool directly involved in your craft (knitting needles or crochet hook) or something that makes your craft more pleasurable – be it a special lamp, or stitch markers.

As I thought about today’s post there were a lot of tools that came to mind. My interchangeable needle set. Something I bought when I was still not positive about how many more needles I would be using. At the time I think I still hadn’t used anything smaller than a US9 and that was rare.

Then I thought about stitch markers, something I like so much I made my own. And while important they still weren’t quite the right tool for this post. And then it came to me. The newest tool that has joined my crafting family. The one, I have been on a slow hunt for “some pretty ones”.

The tool that even as I contemplate replacing with a wheel I know will get plenty of use. My drop spindles. I started spinning in January of 2012, and quickly was drawn into it. I easily incorporated it into my life, found spinning groups, and fiber sellers. All of which was made possible by the drop spindle. I had thought about spinning long before this, but the idea of getting a wheel stopped me. It seemed much too much of an investment, in a new craft that I might only do sometimes.

But spinning on a spindle. I could handle that, while there were expensive spindles, I could get some reasonable functional unadorned ones for nothing at all. And now I have a fiber stash, I want to get hand carders, I will be trying to work with puni rolags soon, the drop spindle opened a lot of doors for me, and it makes, pictures like the one below regular additions to my life.

Why just buy yarn when you can make it?

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Knitting, Spinning 4KCBW, 4KCBWDAY6, spindle, tools

4KCBWDAY5 Something A Bit Different It’s the annual challenge to blog in a way different to how you normally blog. You may choose to create a podcast, or vlog, create a wordless post or write in verse. You’ve already stretched your wings with an infographic, now it’s time to freestyle. You can post on any topic you like, but be sure to post in a style different from your usual blog presentation.

Possibly two and a half years ago, two friends I had repeatedly complimented on their footwear took me to my shoe heaven Fluevog. There were so many options and choices, and since then I have come home with quite a few pairs. I spent most of winter in a pair of purple boots, that went great with my read wool coat, and as the weather warms I look forward to putting my summer shoes to good use. I always joke that I don’t have much of a style, I just left the Village* one day and fell into the Gap for more office appropriate. Now  I try to balance the part of me that wants everything in black and red, with an occasional Sailor Jerry or Hell Bunny Dress and make everyday mine with fun shoes.

Also  I noticed as I pulled out pictures of the shoes there were projects or six that went perfectly with each pair.

First my newest pair of boots.  I’ve worn them most of the winter, and yes even with three inch heels, they were something I wore Monday – Friday in my mostly business semi-casual office. Unless it was snowing or raining, then they were replaced by my Doc Marten boots which have been moved to the place of rain/snow boots.

What seems to have become the wedding sandals. I’ve worn them to three weddings, some parties, and with the four inch heels, they are going to stay in the realm of special occasion shoes.

My first pair of boots from Fluevog. I always tend to wear them with red, and with my closet that isn’t really a challenge.

I’m noticing a knit item trend. I’m starting to understand why I kept all the shawls from my infographic right about now.

And really one of my favorite pairs of shoes. Baroque Rubens.  Great with a skirt, or slacks.  They have hexagon heels. Hexagon Heels!
Well these are the shoes slowly taking over my wardrobe and they make me quite happy. What’s something other than yarn, taking over your home?

*My old Wardrobe staples (I feel the volume of converse (~7) I owned was likely a sign of my future):

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Knitting 4KCBW, 4KCBWDAY5, shoes

Day Four (Thursday April 25th): Colour Review
What are your favourite colours for knitted or crocheted projects. Have a think about what colours you seem to favour when yarn shopping and crafting.

Only after writing this part of your post should you then actually look to see what colours you have used in your projects. Make a quick tally of what colours you have used in your projects over the past year and compare it to the colours you have written about. Compare this, in turn, to the colours that are most dominant in your yarn stash – do they correlate?

My thoughts without looking at my stash were blues, and reds. It likely doesn’t hurt that I’m wearing my Adoro and Vivian today. So that helped influence my thoughts. I also wear a lot of dark colors (black, gray, black….) so handknits are usually where I get my pop of color. And oh what a pop it is.

These are yarns I’ve purchased and yarns that got my attention  earlier this year at Vogue Knitting. I think Neighborhood Fiber Company will be getting a sweater’s worth of my money at some point, something blue and heavily cabled maybe. The saturation of their colors has stuck with me, and there is a shawl design waiting to be set free in the skein of fingering I purchased.

Looking at my projects there is a large amount of blue and red, but orange surprisingly pops up often  too.  I think the answer is more or less bright colors or at least well saturated colors, jewel tones and variegated yarns. There is a reason Madeline Tosh and I get along so well.

It’s no wonder that the things that have been in my stash the longest, are more normal colors, browns,  greens, burgundy, white,  and mostly muted colors.  They have their projects too, but those aren’t the yarns I am ever reaching for first.  As much as I love my sweater dress (nearly done) I do wish I had made it in a brighter color. Emerald Green is the one that keeps coming to mind. Part of the reason I am looking forward to starting my next sweater, it will be striped. Brightly.

Colors, I’ll take them all. And there is almost no faster way to draw me to yarn or fiber but to just mix it with black.

Purple and green also seem to be a great fiber weakness. And to a lesser extent shades of blue.  Keep the color coming.

Can you narrow your craft life to  a set of colors?

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Knitting 4KCBW, 4KCBWDAY4, fiber, yarn

Day Three: Infographic
There are many ways of conveying information on a blog; text and images being the two most widely used. Many infographics combine both these elements to provide a visual way of presenting text information.

Make your own infogaphic (no fancy imaging software needed, you can draw it on paper and photograph it if you want) to convey any element of your craft(s). It can be just for fun or a thoroughly researched presentation of an idea/finding.

I decided to make a couple pie charts about projects. A quick scroll through my Raverly page of projects means while close these numbers aren’t total accurate.  I chose three items that I knit often, shawls hats, and gloves.  Mostly by guess work that I make a lot of these, scarves may trump hats.

What does this simple little pie say?  Well the pie is for total shawls I have knit and green is for the number I have given away regardless of reason.  Green stays the color of items given away in the next two charts but it sure does get different.  Let’s look at hats.

No wonder I always need more hats… So how do gloves shake out?

Apparently I’m about even on gloves, my question becomes where am I hiding them? Granted I know a lot are fingerless, and I have lost a pair in my apartment (someday they will resurface), lost a couple to laundry and dropped one. How is it possible I have kept 14 pairs of gloves and can’t find any in winter?

What did I learn? Apparently you should ask for a hat. It will go better for you. I apparently can’t keep a hat even if I tried.  Why?

Well it looks like if you break hats down, most were unsolicited gifts. Oh my early knitting days. No idea how well that turned out, three were requests, and the last was donated.  Fly free hats.

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Knitting 4KCBW, 4KCBWDAY3, day 3

Day Two: A Mascot Project.
Your task today is to either think of or research a project that embodies that house/animal. It could be a knitting or crochet pattern – either of the animal itself or something that makes you think of the qualities of that house. Alternatively it could be a type or colour of yarn, or a single button. 

Well this bee with a monkey tattoo has exactly the project in mind. I have had the idea for a while now to design a cabled hat, scarf, and mitt (of some form) set with the purple yarn I had made my Dark and Stormy out of (I have enough left for another sweater or two).

I think I have about 1800 yards or so of the purple. And working out what cables to use and how to transfer them between the different mediums is something that would be interesting enough me. I’d want to make the scarf reversible which would change the stitch pattern on the scarf.

This means sitting down and going my stitch dictionaries, swatching and figuring out all the changes I would have to do for each project. An undertaking, sure, but one that would be interesting as well as attention keeping. The hat decreases driving you insane? Let’s switch to the scarf for a while, endless rows of scarf getting boring?  Let’s make a mitt or two.
While I have designed items before I have yet to translate the same design among multiple items, taking in account the items themselves. So not only what cables will look good on a hat, scarf, and gloves; but also things like, how will the crown decreases work out, how wide is the cable and will it fit on the back of a glove. Perhaps I shall attempt this weekend to spread out my various stitch dictionaries and see if I can at least pick a few cables and start swatching.

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Knitting 4KCBW, 4KCBWDAY2