Etherknitter

A Song of Fire and Ice

The finish is often simply a soft sigh.  These socks were no different.  A little bit of kitchener, then a search for a place to photograph.

This one was easy.  Last year was feet to the fire, here.  This year, same place, different location at the Inn.   I cannot say it was fun sitting in the rocker with no shoes.  But I had to put on my big girl socks, and the job was done.

Yarn:  String Theory Caper MCN
Colorway:  Avalon
Kneedles:  Knitpicks #1
Pattern:  standard top down sock, kitchener toe, 20 rows 2x2 ribbed cuff
Purchased at:  Stitches East, 2010 

Our fiber lives were made much more interesting this past Saturday.  Thea of BabyCocktails organized a trunk show with Sarah Dimond (Plucky Knitter) and Cecily Glowik MacDonald at an LYS.  It was FUN.  Plucky had shipped lots of yarn ahead to make us happy, and it did.

My one uncamnestic moment was when everyone (Cecily/Theresa-owner/Sarah/Thea) posed in front of the Wall Of Yarn just before letting us have at it.

And we did.  I was enabled.  I think my defenses have weakened.  I saw a Black  Cherry Lambic cowl, bought yarn for that.  Previously unexcited about the Color Affection shawl, I saw one draped around neck and shoulders in the crowd, and bought yarn for that.  I took the opportunity to buy twosies in several other colors.  I find I have not the quantities for some of these delicious wraps on Rav.  This trunk show fixed that quasi-problem for awhile. 

Spinning is happening.  Yes, weaving is, too.  I need to find a cheery day for pictures.  The brain tickle from SOAR hasn't faded, and the new tickle on the loom is intoxicating.

 

 

 

 

New Year's Eve 2011

God carelessly painted the gloaming sky yesterday.  Smudges and smears of clouds, rose and peach background mixed with navy blue greys.  God as artist: Who he paints for, and did he care what we thought, and how did he know when he was done with that sky?

Ah.  Anthropomorphism.  Inescapable.

It is the turning of the year once more.  There will be no intentions tonight.  I cannot keep to one or many, so I am taking a rest from that.  Three deaths in quick succession this month remind me of Ralph Waldo Emerson's pungent observation:

"Tobacco, coffee, alcohol, hashish, prussic acid, strychnine, are weak dilutions: the surest poison is time." 

And time is also our most precious gift.    

       

 Last year, I wrote: 

                  

"Intentions for 2011 are more difficult.  The difficulty lies in some huge changes happening in the workplace that will suck a great deal of emotional and physical energy over the next year.  I could make one intention for the entire year (survive the coming storms, and come out on the other side with an acceptable solution).  

So let's see where this leaves me.

1.  Survive the coming storms at work, and come out on the other side with an acceptable solution.

2.  Knit from stash.  One get-out-of-stash-jail-free card, the purchasing of yarn and casting on of a project this year for a coup de coeur.  Seems reasonable to allow at least one of those to happen.  Otherwise, this intention would only meet the definition of scolding.

3.  Lump these uglies together:  finish organization, get down to a happy weight, ramp up the exercise and yoga, continue to minimize high glycemic carbs.  Okay, more scolding, but with a purpose.

4.  Restart origami crane project.

5.  Cultivate curiosity.  I have realized that this is a driving force in everything I do.  I seek.  I learn.  I explore.  I perfect.  I leave behind.  All is in the name of satisfying that insatiable itch of curiosity.  It is a reason to live large and well.

Really?  That is all.  But it is a whole lot in five items.  I plan to do other things that won't make it to the intention list:  cook more recipes from my cookbooks that include vegetable proteins, do a bit more in the garden this year, take a XC skating technique lesson. 

The theme here is to enjoy life more, and make sure there is more healthy life to enjoy.  That is easy to remember, and worth putting energy into making it happen."

I should have just stuck with the themes.  The origami cranes sit waiting for brothers and sisters to join them.  My stash remains out of control.  The uglies are ongoing, and modestly successful.

The successes are notable, and I am proud.  I rowed the 100,000 meter challenge again AND finished.  I survived the work restructuring.  The solution is acceptable until it is not.  At that point, I will fight the good fight, then figure out what is left standing on the battlefield.  I have cultivated curiosity, and intend much more of that this year.  That is not an intention in disguise.  It is a way of living that seems to be working well.  I will stick with that theme (far wiser than I realized a year ago) of enjoying life more, and staying healthy.

My amaryllis is on its second stalk, and at peak.  I am reminded of light and hope in its cheery bloom, of heart and love in the color, and of joy in the unexpected pleasures of an impulse purchase at Whole Foods in November.

 

 

 

Solstice

The pagans slowly lost transcendence in the fight for the religious hearts and souls of the early peoples.  Their rituals were adopted to ease the transition.  What are Christmas lights, pagan hilltop bonfires, and Hanukkah candles but a celebration of the darkest day of the year?  

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner was asked by Anita Diamant to sum up the religious significance of Hanukkah.

"We watch the days grow shorter and shorter.  We become frightened because it occurs to us that if this keeps up, we will all freeze to death in the dark.  We light candles in a transparently symbolic attempt to get someone up there to notice - and turn on the light."

Tonight is Hanukkah's second night.  I will light the candles.  I will know that my soul's memory goes back thousands of years, and I will know that the light will come back.

Can I please have some snow while I am waiting?

Random November before it is over

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone.  I know I spent hours shopping, days cooking, and there were 10 people here at one point on a Thursday.  The  dirty dishes alone could have told me that something had occurred.  

That leads me to the randomness that has been swooping through my thoughts as the busy days get shorter.

1.  My favorite radio station does an unfavorite programming trick every year:  start in mid November and play Christmas music for six weeks.  It gets old.  My second favorite station doesn't always keep me awake on the drive to and from, so I am left with carols and musing.

Some carols just rock the genre.  Anything by Burl Ives and Bing Crosby is perfection.  Frank Sinatra pegs it also (even though he was a pig).  Johnny Mathis doesn't do it for me.  I think it is the whiny tenor that knocks him off the list.  Brenda Lee, meh.  Baby sopranos work only if it is Eartha Kitt doing 'Santa Baby'.  

I have to confess to incredible inconsistency in preferences.  Mannheim Steamroller does a nice job of electrifying the music in a way that doesn't murder the mood.  Dean Martin is good, and almost any pop singer starting with Elvis just plain sucks and is doing it for the money.  (There may be a Josh Groban exception here.)  You are not obligated to agree with any or all.

I can't hear a Karen Carpenter carol without feeling sadness.  Her death (cardiomyopathy from ipecac overuse, among other causes) was premature and preventable.  I never really liked her music at the time, but her voice lends sweet purity to the seasonal classics she recorded.

2.  SOAR always leaves the spinner with as many questions as answers.  Both Robin Russo and Deb Robson clearly stated that fiberistas should NOT store their fiber in plastic bags.  Their rationale is that the changes in temperature in a normal house leads to condensation in the bag, and subsequent felting.  Storage should be in paper bags or pillow cases.

Tear out my hair.  Beat my chest.  Angst.  Everything I own is in plastic bags, except for a few fleeces.  The obvious reason is higher mil plastic to slow down the potential for *m*s.  The visibility is helpful also.  Am I jeopardizing the health of my fiber IRA?  WHAT SHOULD I DO?

The first answer is stop stashing.  Ha.  Yeah, I've slowed down a LOT.  But the backlog needs to be stored.  MelissaG raises an excellent question:  doesn't felting require a friction factor?   There is no friction in quietly sleeping fiber in plastic.

My fiber is stored in a room that allows no direct sunlight.  I have seen no condensation during any trip through the stash in any season.  Which is more deadly to my stash, *m* or felting in storage?  In my work, I am called upon to seek evidence-based data by which decisions are made.  Is the felting idea an urban myth we all quote, with no data?  Was felting observed in a damp fleece in a plastic bag?  (There are no damp fleeces here, only processed ones.)  I don't know what I should do, so I have done nothing different.

3.  My current mindless knit other than a sock is Terra, by Jared Flood.  Shelter is a lovely, squooshy yarn that I purchased during our SOAR field trip to Harrisville Designs in NH.  I got gauge, off by maybe 1/8 stitch per inch.  I bought five skeins.  Not enough.  (All of Rav says 4+, maybe 4.5, but that 1/8 stitch is clearly enough to push me over the edge.)  Irony will show that I probably will run out just as I need to bind off.  I debated eliminating some of the edging.  Instead I called Harrisville for a skein in that dyelot.  It took them five hours to call me back.  *wringing of hands*  Success!  It is the world's most expensive skein of Shelter (add $4.95 shipping), but it was worth it.  (Picture me calculating number of stitches per row as the shawl increases in triangular size.  Then picture me adding up all the stitches.  Then picture me knitting a defined length of yarn to see how many stitches per foot of yarn I get.  Math follows.  I am about 14 yards short. And I am being so typically me, it is almost embarrassing to post this.  It falls squarely into random, so there you go.)

4.  I have begun the Concept2 indoor rowing challenge, for the third time.  100,000 meters between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.  That is 30 days, or 3,333.33 meters per day.  The day after turkey, my foot hurt.  I'm icing.  Crossing fingers that this is not derailing the best way possible to get into cross-country skiing shape.  I'm prepared to row one-legged, even if it takes me twice as long.  (My, won't my heart love THAT.)  My HDL cholesterol, drawn this month, is 93.  I am so proud, and I want to keep it there.  Red wine, exercise, and genes rock.  

5.  December promises more full tilt, flat out busyness.  Me and the squirrel, we do the psychic mirroring that brings you this--

 

 

10 Ways To Use Fresh Cranberries

1.  Cranberry orange nut bread.  Yum.  I use a recipe from Boston Magazine from eons past.

2.  Apple/cranberry cobbler.  Or crisp.  Or Betty.  The versions that add less sugar (Nick Malgieri's book) are stimulating.

3.  Three nut cranberry tart.  An etherknitter signature dessert, occasionally brought to fiber gatherings.

4.  Put it in stuffing for Thanksgiving.  Confession:  I use craisins more often I use fresh for this.

5.  Make really good cranberry sauce.  It is not difficult.  This was originally from Bon Appetit or Gourmet....http://blogs.courier-journal.com/recipes/2010/11/10/simple-cranberry-sauce-with-raspberry-vinegar/

6.  Leave them in the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator to die a quiet death over many months.  

7.  I suppose you can string them with popcorn and use them for holiday decorations.  I have never done that.  That also means there isn't a #8, #9, or #10.

This is my third basket, from my third Wendy Jensen class.  She calls it a field basket.  I may be addicted to Wendy Jensen classes. 

 

What I learned about getting even at SOAR

Three years passed after SOAR 2008.     For the first time, I am ready for classes again.  I have the smallest expectations for this technique class (Getting Even with Michelle Boyd).  That means, of course, that it was the BEST time.  

Her initial exercises made me twitch.  She had us put inch-wide tape on our legs, with an inch in between, so that we had our own 1, 2 and 3 inch ruler.  Then she gave us a long staple fiber to spin.  Do 1 inch drafts.  Then do 2 inch drafts.  Then 3 inches.  Predictably, the 1 inch draft had me fighting the fiber, and the 3 inch spinning looked great.  Then she gave us Ashland Bay merino.  One inch, no problem.  Two inches was dicey.  Three inches was a horror.  I raised my hand.

"I understand the one inch looking good, but is the three inch supposed to really suck this bad?  Or do I just suck as a spinner?"

Of course.  Can't make a staple do what a staple doesn't want to do.  She had us count treadles, as we drafted a uniform length of fiber.  This is Mabel Ross, yes?  It worked.  Nice looking yarn.

Many railed against the discipline.  Few like to count.  I did it for several weeks after SOAR, and now it is intuitive.  The rhythm is in the hands and the feet, without counting.  My yarn is more even.

What else?  Draft in one direction.  Obvious to many, but not to me.  This lazy spinner drafted in whatever direction seemed to feel the best in any given moment.  A bit of long draw as the twist went past the fingers, some attempt at discipline with short forward draw, then a switch back to short backward worsted draw.  No wonder my yarn did not make me happy.  

Michelle agreeds with Judith on working with the fiber prep that you have:  don't split the top, don't split the roving, avoid pre-drafting.  Drafting seems easier, but doing this actually sets up thick and thin areas that make good, even drafting more difficult.  

The best ah-ha moment was how she handles the thinning of thick spots.  I was taught to stop treadling, go back to the thick spot, roll the twist backwards to release the fibers, and pull the dense spot thinner until it matches the rest of the yarn's grist.

That puts more aligned (worsted) spots interspersed into a woolen yarn.  (The idea is that the thick spots happen during long draw drafting more often than in short forward worsted draw techniques.) Yarn will be more even if you do this:  Roll back the fiber in the opposite direction from the spinning twist.  Do this at the end of the thick spot closest to the orifice.  Then ease the pinching hand back through the thick spot, away from the orifice, gently rolling as you go.  That allows the twist to enter the thick spot more evenly.  

(Of course, if you are spinning a worsted draw, and get a thick spot, go with the old release-the-twist-and-pull-gently to distribute the fibers more evenly along the yarn.  Then you are simply putting worsted spots into worsted-spun yarn.)

Internal mirth almost got the best of me when, three hours later, in a color class, Deb Menz said STRIP your roving, SPLIT your top, predraft EVERYTHING, and draft however YOU want.  The goals were different, of course.  Spinning for color, spinning for even yarn, all are arrows in the quiver of the spinner's skillsets.  We swap out whatever works for what kind of yarn we want to produce.  

The rigid heddle loom (borrowed from Lynn) has a Mission Falls cotton dishcloth in progress.  I warped for two towels.  Youtube made hemstitching easy.  Chalk up a new skill that will make my woven ends more cohesive.  

I have bit off somewhat more than I can chew right now.  There are too many projects, too many new things.  NaBloPoMo would have been perfect, but I forgot.  

I am SO far behind.  A picture from Rhinebeck.  You-know-who to the left, Angela Ho to the right.  

 

 

 

SOAR 2011, Part II

The retreats were divided, SOAR-random, into exposure the first day, skillsets the second.  Rare wools by Deb Robson was an exciting foray into really weird sheep breeds.  She gave us samples of Black Welsh Mountain, Hog Island, North Ronaldsay, Jacob, Manx Loaghtan, Clun Forest, Southdown, and Wensleydale.  Our job was to card and/or comb the washed fleece, spin worsted and/or woolen, then move on.  We sprinted through the breeds.  I had not spun four of the eight before.  Deb is a precious resource in the fiber world.  She is planning to work on a book covering sheep breeds from other parts of the world next.  Her Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook is a work that will stand for decades.

Beth Smith was next.  Her workshop was For the Love of Longwools.  With a similar idea of exposure, she gave us four breeds.  This allowed more time to be systematic and work with the locks more completely.  Lincoln, Romney, Wensleydale, and BFL were presented.  Beth is smart, knowledgeable, and a superb resource for all kinds of fleeces at her shop.

Let us take a break.  SOAR wasn't just about classes.  

How could the hyperstimulated spinner not notice that people were matching their hair with their clothes?

Kelly always shows her colors.  Beth Smith (please forgive me, she was talking while I preserved the color harmonies) did it too.

I think the prize goes to Evil Michelle.  Hair, clothes, iPhone case AND yarn.  (That is the inimitable SarahW next to her.)

Evil talked me into the edgy color thing.  Blue, yes?  A nice streak?  An overdye?

No.  She dragged me to Deb Menz's classroom, where every possible hue of dyed merino was spread out on a table.  We pointed to this and that.  One learns that Evil Michelle is always right.  Cranberry is in my future.  Pictures may or may not make it to the blog.

Lynn coordinated a trip to Harrisville Designs.  Yarn apparently doesn't just happen.  We saw the entire process, from picker, carder, separate the carded batt into roving, twist the roving in the spinner machine, cone the spun yarn, skein the yarn, wash it, dry it, and label it.

The picker takes stuff that looks nothing like yarn components and turns it into something that gets carded into evenly tweedy roving.  That the roving stays together in huge thin sheets long enough to get spun is miraculous.  The spinner machine looks like it just rubs the roving together, but it apparently is more complex than it appears.  All the yarn that is produced in the Mill goes through ONE washing machine to get the spinning oils out.  All the yarn is dried on very high tech racks with drying devices call fans.  The big bin of honey colored yarn is a mistake.  Something happened in the spinning that produced softer yarn than met their standards.  Someone then had an 'ah ha' moment.  Harrisville R&D is looking into what went wrong so they can purposefully make this yarn again.  (It is soft and cushy and I would buy it.)

I came away with new respect for 40 year old spinning equipment.  One room to the left of the entry is completely filled with shelves.  Packed tightly on the shelves are parts for the machines.  If something breaks that isn't in that room, it is to be specially made for the Mill.  I have a bigger tolerance now for knots.  (I saw how much waste would occur if knots weren't used to completely empty the cones into skeins.)  My particular medical view on life had me taking deep breaths as I watched workers stick their hands by open rollers to clear clogs, and pick at chain-driven machines to clear fluff from the oily parts.  

Jonathan Bosworth gave a talk in the SOAR Marketplace on 10/7.  He presented his Han Dynasty reproduction wheel.  Here he is, doing a bit of spinning on this charka-spinning wheel hybrid.  

Behind as usual.  Rhinebeck was the weekend after SOAR.  I did lots.  I saw lots.  No spoilers from the audience, please.  ;)

 

 

Exotic Fibers

My workshop - three days of exotic fibers with Robin Russo - surpassed my high expectations.  She handed us everything needed to luxuriate in the topic:  exquisite fibers, handcards, combs, drumcarders, hole-punched sheets to keep track of samples, lap cloths, enthusiasm, and boundless knowledge of the subject.  I cannot EVER say enough good things about Robin.

We sampled and spun fibers in six categories.  I don't even remember any more where one day's fibers began, and the next finished.  Down fibers included camel, yak, qivuit, cashmere (two different preps), buffalo.  South American camelids covered alpaca (suri and huacaya), llama, llama down, guanaco, and an interesting crossbreeding of llama and alpaca called huarizo.  (There was public conjecture as to who was mama, who would be papa, and how each possibility could possibly be accomplished.)

Angora rabbits included black giant, English, and German white.  We all coughed through this group.  Angora flies EVERYWHERE.

Angora and other goats covered kid, yearling, adult locks, and top.  Then we danced over to cashgora in top and roving, and sidled quietly up to Pygora A, B, and C (pictured).  Yum.  Pygora B is great bang for your fuzzy buck.  Softer than A, but less expensive than C, the spinner can only smile while this stuff cascades through her fingers.  

Silk:  Bombyx, tussah, mawata, eri, muga.  The latter two are different breeds of silk-producing caterpillars/moths.  Eri is white, with scroop - that crunchy feel and rustling sound silk makes when you handle it.  Muga is luscious, tawny, smoother than tussah, toothier than bombyx, almost an ideal cross between the two.  I bought three ounces from Northeast Fiber Arts (Robin's sister's shop in VT) to handspin and knit an exquisite shawl.  

On the afternoon of the third day, we blended batts.  The front table was filled with wool, mohair, alpaca, silk, and color.  

These fibers were transmogrified into a batt.  (Manise picked the mains, I picked the accents.)   Robin also invited us to blend on combs.  I did who-knows-what here, then spun from the comb.

 

 

 

Flashes of experiences throughout the week highlighted what an odd gathering we were.  By Tuesday, the front of my pants yielded an entire fiber batt by itself.  I have no idea what the hotel staff thought of all this.  It was entirely normal to have grey and dyed Gotland locks sitting on one's hotel dresser in a clump (courtesy of Swedish Ingrid), and a small niddy roosting on the bedside chest of drawers, showing off reeled silk from Robin's cocoon demo in the workshop.  

Enough for now.  I am sorting and packing for Rhinebeck next, brat that I am.  

I still have lots to report.

 

 

SOAR 2011 - Magnus wheel

SOAR happened.  The week is completely impossible.  The week before is spent gathering tools, workshop equipment, spindles, fiber, clothes and dreams.

Then the spinner is required to drink from the fire hose.  Three days of workshop, culminating in a gallery display of what we have produced and learned.  Then retreats.  Three hour intensive sessions organized around one fibrous topic.  (I skipped the Thursday workshop options, knowing the limited capacity of this humble vessel I call my fiber brain.)

Even so.  I overdosed.  We all did.  It was sensational.

The week started improbably.  Complex logistics and arrangements concluded thus:  I drive to Manchester NH, pick up SarahW, drive straight to VT Sheep & Wool, meet Tom Livernois, pick up my wheel (and Woolen Rabbit Kim's), then drive back to SOAR at the Radisson in Manchester.

Whew.  A hair past the buttcrack of dawn, I'm in the Ethermobile.  SarahW and I intersect just outside the chili festival in front of the hotel.  Zoom up to Tunbridge, find BallandSkein's booth (back-up plan made with assumption that cellphone service would be spotty).  Take a deep breath, and then see Tom and Tracy Livernois approaching.  

Another deep breath.  Pretty wheel.  No.  Exquisite wheel.  I sat down in front of it, shucking shoes.  I'm scared.  What if it is not in tune with me?  Hoo boy.  It took 1.5 treadles to know this honey was mine.  Curly maple.  Magnus Drudik design.  (Tom was the sorcerer's apprentice, now transformed into the sorcerer himself.   He will deny this in his humble fashion.)  SarahW and I raced back to Manchester on Irene-ravaged roads.  Somehow, the Ethermobile made it.

My hotel room hosted Kim's and my wheel briefly.  The wheel still takes my breath away.  It spins like a living creature with a glowing soul.  Tom Livernois creates magic in his work.  You can reach him here.  His waiting list is at least a year and a half now.  

Then SOAR began.  It was like learning how to swim by leaping into the river 100 yards before Niagara Falls.    This will take several posts.  Stay tuned.  I promise, PROMISE, that weeks won't go by before I finish the telling.

 

 

Ten on Tuesday: Ten Things You Do Every Day

1.  Procrastinate.  You may be laughing.  I know I am not alone in this.  I almost delayed my post until tomorrow, but I thought that was low-hanging fruit.

2.  Think about fiber.  Notice I did not say "knit".  Or "spin".  I don't get to do that every single day.  But even when I don't, I still think about it.  

3.  Read.  It can be as simple as a magazine, or the internet.  When I am good, it is a book.  I am currently reading Guy Gavriel Kay's "Under Heaven".  It is rilly good.  I have a ridiculous backlog of Bon Appetits, Food&Wines, Wine Spectators, NewEnglandJournalof Medicines, etc.  See #1.

4.  Check the front door for packages.  Even if nothing is expected, you never know.  We both obsessively check.  It is a B A D habit.  

5.  Communicate in some fashion to my husband that he is loved and appreciated.  

6.  Think about exercise.  Back to #1.  Daniel Gilbert did a study using an iPhone app that addresses how people feel when they think about things other than what they are doing NOW.  Food for thought.  Oh!  Never mind.  That one was my fault, I distracted you.

7.  Drink tea.  Every single day.  I was really happy when antioxidants were found in tea, and thought to be good for me.   I would drink it, regardless.

8.  Appreciate my current life and health.  It's been a decent amount of psychic work, but it pays good dividends.  I appreciate each day more.  I learned to do this as I have seen death, disability, and disaster every day in the operating rooms.  One would be stupid to not get this message after all that.  

9. Eat a granola bar.  Luna.  Flavors vary, although I am currently fond of Nuts over Chocolate.  Those people who say that breakfast is the most important meal clearly do not wake up early in the morning, and clearly are not nightowls.  I'm lucky I can find my way to work in the morning.  So my breakfast is a granola bar.  I don't have to wake up early to fix it.  I can eat it in the car without endangering myself or others.  I like spending $0.99 for breakfast.  It has vitamins in it.  And I like the crunch/chocolate/nutty essences.

10.  Check email.  Another unfortunate addiction.  The iPhone has only made this worse.  Better?

And back to #8?  Not the best picture, but a sample of what we did last Saturday in Vermont.  

Thanks to the British School of Falconry, who reopened the day before our visit.  The Battenkill River put their facility under four feet of water during Tropical Storm Irene.  The hawks and eagles were rescued, and stashed in the falconers' houses until the water receded.