Embarrassing stash
Sep. 6th, 2018 11:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoNo, not drugs. This "stash" refers to fiber art supplies: yarn, unspun wool and other fibers, knitting needles, dyes, crochet hooks, and so forth. (We won't mention projects started and left incomplete, as there are several of those as well.)
Specific goal: knit a lightweight shawl from some handspun yarn I have made. First, find a suitable pattern. I knew I wanted a circular design with just a little bit of lacy patterning. Having seen one like that made by a friend several years back, I asked her about it. Her advice was just to search online. Most of what I found was far more complicated than I wanted, but eventually I located some simple advice for knitting shawls in the round that will work.
Now to make a sample swatch to make sure the yarn grist and needle size is appropriate for what I want. The yarn should be fine, but I'd better wash it first so it doesn't shrink when washed later. Still, I can use a bit of it to test the pattern. Looks like a size 6 or 7 needle will give a light enough textile.
Knitting in the round for small items starts with double pointed needles as a rule, and sure enough I found I have both sizes in double points. However, this shawl will end up, worked from the center out, as a circular piece about four feet in diameter or a bit more. That means once the center is started, there will come a time to switch to a circular needle (two knitting needles connected by a flexible cable) and later probably to an even longer circular needle. Off to look in the needle collection, which is embarrassingly large due to many inherited from other knitters as well as those I bought myself. I find the slip cases for two size 7 circular needles, one 16 inches long and one 32 inches long. I might need one longer still before the end (they go up to at least 60 inches) but this will do to start.
The problem? Both needle cases are empty. All right, they must be still entangled in some unfinished project, and sure enough, after looking through a couple of baskets of stuff, I did fine one of them with a moebius scarf or cowl nearly completed. The other is still AWOL. And... I should complete that scarf as it is also handspun yarn and would make a good gift for someone.
Between all the needles and crochet hooks I found, though, I see it is time to make some sort of inventory to track what I have and avoid buying things again. Proven by the fact that I found swivel hook pairs (crochet tools similar to the circular knitting needle but with hooks on each end) in sizes H, J, and K. That wouldn't be bad, except there were two each of H and J, and four of K. Most were new, still in the unopened wrappers. Worse, I know I have afghan hooks in sizes J, K, L, and M, none of which I found in this search.
Past time to get this stuff more organized. Sigh.
Specific goal: knit a lightweight shawl from some handspun yarn I have made. First, find a suitable pattern. I knew I wanted a circular design with just a little bit of lacy patterning. Having seen one like that made by a friend several years back, I asked her about it. Her advice was just to search online. Most of what I found was far more complicated than I wanted, but eventually I located some simple advice for knitting shawls in the round that will work.
Now to make a sample swatch to make sure the yarn grist and needle size is appropriate for what I want. The yarn should be fine, but I'd better wash it first so it doesn't shrink when washed later. Still, I can use a bit of it to test the pattern. Looks like a size 6 or 7 needle will give a light enough textile.
Knitting in the round for small items starts with double pointed needles as a rule, and sure enough I found I have both sizes in double points. However, this shawl will end up, worked from the center out, as a circular piece about four feet in diameter or a bit more. That means once the center is started, there will come a time to switch to a circular needle (two knitting needles connected by a flexible cable) and later probably to an even longer circular needle. Off to look in the needle collection, which is embarrassingly large due to many inherited from other knitters as well as those I bought myself. I find the slip cases for two size 7 circular needles, one 16 inches long and one 32 inches long. I might need one longer still before the end (they go up to at least 60 inches) but this will do to start.
The problem? Both needle cases are empty. All right, they must be still entangled in some unfinished project, and sure enough, after looking through a couple of baskets of stuff, I did fine one of them with a moebius scarf or cowl nearly completed. The other is still AWOL. And... I should complete that scarf as it is also handspun yarn and would make a good gift for someone.
Between all the needles and crochet hooks I found, though, I see it is time to make some sort of inventory to track what I have and avoid buying things again. Proven by the fact that I found swivel hook pairs (crochet tools similar to the circular knitting needle but with hooks on each end) in sizes H, J, and K. That wouldn't be bad, except there were two each of H and J, and four of K. Most were new, still in the unopened wrappers. Worse, I know I have afghan hooks in sizes J, K, L, and M, none of which I found in this search.
Past time to get this stuff more organized. Sigh.
no subject
Date: 2018-09-06 05:11 pm (UTC)We're in the process of reducing said clutter, but it's not a simple nor short task. I wish you fortune in your version of the same!
Light and laughter,
SongCoyote
P.S. I miss you and the occasional e-mail chats we had <3
no subject
Date: 2018-09-07 02:07 am (UTC)Farm population right now is 3 horses (ages 26, 26, and 24,) one big exuberant dog (maybe 5 or 6 years old,) four barn cats (recent rescues, unknown ages, from among eight left orphaned when a long time friend passed away in July,) two aging ducks who are still laying a few eggs, and two retired pretend-farmers (both creeping up on 70.) Oh, and a few scrawny tomato vines and overgrown pole beans, with a cucumber vine or two thrown in for good measure. There's a bed of salad greens but this hasn't been the sunniest of summers here and those haven't done so well.
Eight inches of rain in two days over the weekend made for a lot of mud and minor flooding. The water has receded back into the creek but the mud is still the "suck the boots off your feet" variety in a couple of places.
Two more farmers' markets and a featured performer appearance at the coffee house in Woodstock, then ThingamaJig will be done for the season and one pressure at least relieved. I've been working to add mandolin and bouzouki to my skill set, and might actually get one of those into a performance before the year is out.
All that and still trying to do some knitting and spinning occasionally. And cooking and baking of course.
Got any 36 hour days to spare? :D
no subject
Date: 2018-09-07 05:46 pm (UTC)I've never kept horses (though I know a wee bit about them because my grandfather did, and my ex-wife's sister boarded them) but I've loved them most of my life. Aging horses must be a particular challenge! No doubt there's the occasional challenge keeping them out of the salad greens. Maybe if they come in too yellow you can just let the horses have their snack ;)
I'm glad the flooding didn't get too bad, and that you still have your boots. Hearing about that does make me appreciate my "soft" city life; I rarely need to worry about the ground stealing my footwear. I have other stresses, of course, and that's okay.
Do you have any recordings of ThingamaJig? A CD, perchance, for us graybeards who still use such things?
I still want to try your baking! And if I come across any 36-hour days or similar, I'll gladly share. I have a lot of things I want to do, too, including even more time with my beloved <3
For my part, I started a new job recently that is going very well. I feel like I found a good 'fit' at last, and may be here a long time. That's a relief after my all-too-frequent struggles, part of which was realizing early this year that I had just emerged from a long depression - as much as 5 years - that had contributed significantly to said struggles. It's still lurking, as I have off-kilter brain chemistry (oh joy) but it's under control right now, and I have more tools than I did before after getting some counseling.
My household is doing well overall, our dogs and cats and lizards (2 each) are aging but healthy, and the future looks bright despite that lately I have been starting to feel the fact that I'm no longer "young". And that's okay, too - getting old beats the alternative!
Thanks for taking the time to write back. I still cuddle the horse hand puppet you sent, and I think of you fondly whenever I see it.
Light and laughter,
SongCoyote