Spin me around

The plans multipled again, like a plague of rabbits, but more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Though I have plenty to do, I found myself casting on yet another pair of toddler socks and this time I'm doing colourwork! I just couldn't resist even though I kept telling myself to focus on this:

Gilmore 4-harnass loom being dressed with cottolin warp

Progress does continue weaving-wise, that is, I'm making progress in dressing the loom. I finished threading the heddles while sitting on the tiger stool, such a handy height. That's how things will stay until we get back from indulging in a day of twin-sitting... and then recover....

In between times over the next two weeks, I'll handspin daily as a member of Team I Spin Cotton in Ravelry's Tour de Fleece (did I mention that I also joined Team Australia and Team Kathy's Fibres?)

Plying cotton from two support spindles (in background)
 using 12:1 ratio on 70s Ashford Traditional spinning wheel
with standard sliding hook flyer

I plied previously spun cotton singles from two support spindles in order to have empty spindles to start afresh spinning cotton for the Tour-de-Fleece. 

I decided I might want an occasional change from spinning white cotton. I'm also spinning handpainted wool from Kathy's Fibres, an Australian independent dyer and supplier.

Ashford Traditional standard sliding hook flyer, with ratio 12:1.
Handpainted fibre from Kathy's Fibres in "Strelitzia" colourway.

We don't get regular reception for SBS, the tv channel that carries the Tour de France. We can get the program streamed live via satellite, starting at 10pm and lasting about four hours, but much too late for us. Lucky for us, SBS archives a streamed Highlights version (24 min), available the following day.

Before today is over, I better get to spinning my wheel, look forward to having fun with grandsons tomorrow and wish everyone: Happy Independence Day!

post by M in JaM

pix by JaM

Queen's Birthday

We've enjoyed this public holiday at home, sitting in front of the morning fire, walking the dog, visiting via the phone, reading things of interest on the internet and working on creative projects. Well aware of global financial problems, threats of mining expansion nearby, concern over water sources and water quality, climate change... well, to avoid being overwhelmed, we purposely turn our minds regularly to finding contentment near at hand.

Leg warmers, knitted last year (NeedleFood hand-dyed yarn)

Last week I stretched my knitted sock sample (no pics as yet) onto a toddler foot and realised I have to knit to the future, not to the moment. The sock was too small for one twin but fit the other twin's foot perfectly – we all know that perfect fit would last for about five minutes. By the time I got home, knit the sock's mate, mailed it and it arrived... there's no way the socks would fit. The twins are growing and changing so fast. So, my mission remains to knit two pairs of larger toddler socks that can be worn this winter, that is... NOW! I am not a fast knitter. Keep your fingers crossed, would you?

Cottolin warp for new weaving project

In between knitting sessions, I've wound a warp for a new weaving project. Similar to the last project, it will use a crackle weave threading and summer winter treadling. The warp is 22/2 cottolin instead of the 5/2 cotton I used last time. The loom lives upstairs in the guest bedroom (you can see the mossie net over the bed in the background). With the heat of summer past, I can weave upstairs during the day quite comfortably. Instead of being too hot, the room in winter is warm and cosy.

May you and yours find contentment nearby, too.

post by M in JaM

photos by JaM

Lunar eclipse as well as Venus transiting the Sun

Handknit sock
(hand-dyed yarn by NeedleFood, a New Zealand supplier
that closed after the Christ Church earthquakes)

Winter is here. The temperature fell below 10C (below 50F) this morning. We do like sitting in front of the fireplace on these clear, cold mornings. We've unpacked our handknitted socks and fingerless gloves. Grevilleas bloom outside the kitchen window and currawongs claim the nearby birdbath. The currawong tribe has brought young ones and several times a day the air is filled with their melodious songs as they forage in the area.

Grevillea superb

We are spending tomorrow with the twins and their mum. I have finished knitting one sample sock and shall try the sock on each of the two grandsons. Surely, it will fit one of them! Of course, that's just the beginning of this knitting project. I am also ready to wind a warp for my next weaving project.

Is it today's lunar eclipse or the transit of Venus across the Sun that has stimulated this wave of creativity?

Captain Cook sailed to Tahiti to record a transit of Venus across the Sun in 1769. The data collected helped navigators determine longitude more precisely. Cook sailed on and “discovered” Australia in 1770, on the same voyage. The British declaration of this new land as “terra nullius” - or land belonging to no one – continued to characterise Australian law with regards to land and title and was only overturned by the High Court of Australia twenty years ago (3 June 1992) in a case that made the name Mabo familiar to every Australian. Eddie Mabo, a Torres Strait Islander, campaigned for indigenous land rights and played a remarkable role in helping achieve that landmark Mabo decision twenty years ago.

So ends today's lesson....

Post by M in JaM

photos by JaM

Walking, Knitting, Birding

We've been enjoying our daily walks in beautiful weather over the Easter weekend. None of the usual damp and drizzle that we've come to expect on this holiday. The gorgeous full moon felt close enough to touch.

Morning temperatures have fallen. We put the doona back on the bed and unpacked a few items of winter clothing from the trunks though we don't need to wear much in the way of warm clothing yet. I am loving the ankle warmers that I knit from natural brown, handspun Corriedale wool last winter. The ankle warmers keep me feeling comfortable in the morning and evening without needing socks.

Ankle warmers for DH

I encouraged DH to wear my ankle warmers one evening. He looked dubious, but gave it a go and soon wanted a pair of his own. I made his pair from hand-spun Corriedale that I had dyed purple. Being warm feels great and so does using yarn that I've created and stashed in previous years. Come to think of it, DH did some of the handspinning of that Corriedale yarn on an electronic spinner that we rented from the local guild.

Squatter Pigeon in Far North Queensland

A pair of Squatter Pigeons appeared in the mowed area around the house and hung around for a few days. We didn't see a mating display, but you can see that in this remarkable photo by photographer Rod Warnock.

Post by M in JaM

Photos by J in JaM

Jacaranda Time

Jacaranda and Flame Trees in blossom

We're having a colourful Spring season on the Atherton Tablelands with jacaranda, flame trees, silky oaks and bougainvillea erupting in masses of blossoms.

Bougainvillea Entry

The weekend included some thunder. The dog wanted me sitting in an armchair and wanted her bed shoved as close as possible. Confined to the chair, I kept myself busy by wrangling wool into a form that's easier to spin.

This wool has given me a bucketload of frustration even though I love the colours of this hand-dyed wool top from an independent dyer. In my first forays at spinning it on the wheel, it stubbornly resisted any attempts to draft it. (Could this be some sort of '60s karma?) I wrote an angry letter to the source... and didn't send it. I wanted to better understand what was happening. And that took time.

Persevering, I produced a couple of sample skeins which revealed the two main problems with the top: 1.) second cuts and slubby bits, and 2.) remnants of sticky dye chemicals (though little or no bleeding during wash of handspun). I do really like the dyer's colourway.

With some hours of extra work I've wrangled* most of that wool until it drafts well enough that I can produce the yarn I want. I can't say it's a pleasure to spin. I'm just glad I'm not a beginning spinner. Did I mention that I do like the colours?

Here is more local colour and it makes me feel happy:

Bougainvillea at hillside home

*wrangled: if you're interested, here are details about the wrangling:

I split my wool top lengthwise into seven strips. Doing my best to avoid disrupting the parallel arrangement of the fibres, I widened each strip and carefully plucked out slubby bits. I gently worked to separate sticky fibres in the most intense colour areas. I softly rolled up each strip, with tail to inside, to maintain colour order. This preparation enabled me to spin semi-worsted yarn with grist of 4000m/kg.

NOTE: wool top is a "rope-like" arrangement of parallel wool fibres

NOTE2: some spinners do not believe in splitting top lengthwise. My belief system is pragmatic, craftwise: I do what works for me.

photos by J in JaM
post by m in JaM

Wesekh (Broad Collar)

by M in JaM

Our summer days can get hot and humid. But in tropical highlands, cool mornings make me want to throw a little something over my shoulders. I wanted to knit something lightweight, a single layer, something that would stay on and that wouldn't hang down into my oatmeal. I wanted to use my latest handspun yarn: a soft merino/soy blend, hand-dyed by Ewe Give Me The Knits.

Because I have limited experience as a knitter, I also wanted a pattern. An online capelet pattern (free) posted some years ago by Fuzzy Galore gave me the courage to procede. I made a swatch with my merino/soy handspun and adjusted the simple pattern for my gauge and needles. I cast onto circular needles (for the first time ever!) and began knitting. I followed the pattern directions except I made my "capelet" shorter. It extends to the edges of my shoulders. It measures 6" instead of 12" from top to bottom. Wondering what to call it, since it wasn't really a capelet, I searched online and found the "wesekh", or broad collar, of ancient Egypt (usually made with beads). I had knitted a wesekh. I like it.

photo by J in JaM