Stasia's Place Of Grace

Thursday, October 10, 2002

 

All Good Things...

...must come to an end.

I'm getting close to the end of several projects, due in large part to our phone line being messed up and forcing me to stay off the Internet! There is a lesson in that for me, and I've decided to update this Blog less frequently, as doing it takes away from my journaling, "exercising," and creative time... time that I need to dedicate to myself to get myself healthier.

I think I'll try to do it on Sundays, so please check in once a week if you'd like. I'm sorry not to be able to provide more cheer to others, but I need to balance it with providing cheer to myself from other activities, and it takes me a long time to update this page because of my super-slow Internet connection (we can't get DSL here.)

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The Meilenweit Wavy Halloween Sox are finished!

Finished Meilenweit Socks

On each color stripe, I did one row of that color (the second full round of a new color) in a *K6, K2tog, K6, K2 into next st.* on a round of 60 stitches. This made the subtle zig-zags in the stripes. However, it also made the sox somewhat "twisty" in that the heel and toe aren't exactly centered with each other when the sock isn't on my foot. As well, it made for a very snug-fitting sock.

My initial goal had been to do these in a ribbing, but I didn't because the purls would have shown up weird when I changed each color. In doing the top ribbing, I discovered that one can do the color change round all in knit stitches, and do the other rounds in ribbing; the knit round disappears, and you avoid the two-color purl stitches showing through. Wish I'd remembered this earlier! I have another ball of this yarn in another colorway, and will try that pattern on that pair.

I made a pretty significant mistake when I accidentally slid all the stitches off my needle while doing my short-row heel. This resulted in me not putting the correct number back on and there is an obvious hole on one side of the heel (not at the gusset point - thank goodness I've learned to eliminate those!)

So, they're not exactly how I wanted them to be, but I like the colors and they're quite soft and they fit. I learned a lot from them, and for that I'm grateful.

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The "Welcome Back, Old Friend" Gray Cable Sweater's sleeves are now sewn in place!

I dislike finishing tremendously, but the sleeves are the worst for me. Once they're in place, everything else is easy, if somewhat boring. But getting those sleeves even, and getting them to measure what they're supposed to - phew! I hate that part! I put it off as long as possibly, until the guilt gets to be too much to withstand.

Gray Sweater's Sleeves Set

I will say this - if I ever do knit another sweater (which isn't bloody likely!) it'll be done in the round, from the top down, and the sleeves will be done along the way. I hate piecing things together! (But this really was a fun sweater to do, even if the neck did take me four tries.)

I'm very glad this part is done and I rewarded myself with some easy K2, P2 knitting on a scarf for my sister.

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I'm making very good progress, surprisingly, on the Rainbow Ruana on the Ashford four shaft loom. Three paper bags have fallen off the wound warp, which means I just have one more wrapping it up on the "winder", so there isn't too much more to weave.

I used to hate stick shuttles, but this yarn is really stretchy, and the shed on my loom is quite small, so my large Schacht boat shuttle kept falling through the warp, or getting stuck.

The smaller shuttles can't hold such wide yarn.

So I decided to try the stick shuttles again, and lo and behold, I now love them! I found out they don't cause me problems if I lead with the end that has the yarn through the "eye", and unwrap enough yarn before sending it through. The little things, the easy things, that one learns simply by use...

I do hate warping, almost as much as sweater finishing, but I find again that weaving truly is almost as relaxing to me as knitting. I always think it will be boring, but it never is... just mesmerizing and very "Zen-ish".

The only thing I'm not enjoying is that, weaving at 7 ppi, I'm making fast progress and filling up my weavable shed really quickly, and I feel like I'm constantly getting up to wind the warp forward. I guess there could be worse things to complain about, huh?

Question: If you have a loom, how many inches of fabric can you weave before you have to wind forward?

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This isn't a finished project, but a finished wait: the rovings I'd ordered from Sandy Sitzman of Woolgatherings arrived! I'd asked her to try to match the rovings she'd dyed on page 25 of "The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook" because I loved Lynne's socks and wanted to try to duplicate them (fat chance! Lynne's socks are fantastic...)

Well, I think Sandy did a great job with these! They are so neat and clean and soft and not smelly - not at all like my dyeing attempts. I believe Sandy used Bluefaced Leicester, and I think they'll be a dream to spin. The colors are so clear and deep and vivid... really a professional quality job. And she was great to deal with.

Rovings and Page 25 from "The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook"

A sock pattern with spinning guidelines is included in this "Happy Socks Kit", which Sandy offers at her website. She has a special going where if you buy one, you get the second at half price, so I also got this other colorway:

I think this colorway is called "Sunrise".

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Our honey harvest will be tomorrow, and that, too, marks the end of a season for the bees. We don't expect to harvest much due to the swarms we had this summer, but there should be a little in there... Jeff is taking a half-day tomorrow to start it, as he's worried about the cold weather coming this weekend. I'll probably spend Sunday bottling the honey he's spun out of the frames.

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The migration seems to have started in earnest. The weather man has predicted very cold temperatures for this weekend, and apparently the songbirds were watching his report, because they've come flocking down from the northern forests.

It always amazes me to hear so many songbirds in the spring, and then suddenly have everything subdued as they raise their young. But once again in the fall, they sing - not to find a mate or claim a territory or warn of a predator, but just to say farewell to their summering grounds and the season.

Today, in addition to the geese and cranes I've been seeing, we had masses of robins chirping from the trees. The sound reminded me of the thrill I get when I hear the first one to return for the spring, but in addition to that call they have a different one now... again, it sounds like they are singing purely for the joy of it, giving thanks for the abundance of summer, and calling their friends to come along to warmer climes. Strange how the songs change from one season to the next, yet the birds' voices remain recognizable.

Soon all we'll hear is the chattering of the chickadees and juncos, or the occasional call of a cardinal, as the snows begin to fall.

The trees are changing in earnest now. It isn't visible on gray, rainy days - but let the sun come out, and suddenly there is color everywhere!

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I hope good things are coming to abundant ends for you now as well!

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