Update from springtime

Dear blog readers, I am not sure how many of you are still out there!  Some friends may still visit?  It's hard to tell --I used to receive lots of comments and make conversation on every post.  Now?  Nothing.  Hard to tell...So here are some updates from my world...

I made an unfortunate knitting project choice back in March.  One of my twins asked for a gray sweater and I agreed to knit it during our most gray, long, wet, puddle filled and flooded time of year.  True, the yarn is Polwarth wool so lovely and soft.  It will make a nice dress sweater. I finished it on one of the first warm days and my kid didn't even want to try it on long enough for fit.  Good news with twins is that if one does not want it, the other likely will...assuming it still fits somebody in the fall.

We also happened to hear about a new baby...so I made an "upsized" Worry Bear.  I took the pattern for a small pocket sized bear, which is really supposed to meet specific needs for those with anxiety, sensory issues, autism, dementia, etc. and I knit it on #8(5mm) double pointed needles and I used three strands of sportweight yarn.  Stuffed with wool, it will be perfect for a toddler to carry around or chew on.

The world news has also really gotten me down. I've struggled to keep cheerful. Our province has opened up to crowded events, without masks, despite an increasing rate of COVID deaths and health care cannot keep up. Meanwhile, war and gun violence are happening-completely avoidable deaths that politicians refuse to be mature enough to take prompt action on...people who can resolve conflicts peaceably seem to be in short supply.

When I'm particularly stressed by these things, I "make" a lot more...more sewing, spinning, knitting and cooking.  To my surprise, I discovered I'd cranked out over 900 yards of 2 ply Clun Forest wool  (Western Canadian wool) while processing bad news.  I washed and skeined it, and? - have absolutely nothing planned for it.  So, if you're taking on a big dyeing, weaving, knitting, or other project and could use handspun for it, let me know.  Let's make a deal!

There's also been an uptick in special life events.  Twins turned 11!  Alas, the gelati cakes from the past no longer are made at our favourite shop, but birthdays continue.  Mommy cake came to the rescue....although I truly failed "buttercream 101" in my 'breads and desserts' course in university...I made a big cake, and everyone seemed happy.  Yes, this is true, I took an elective course in breads and desserts at the Cornell hotel school.  Since I already knew how to bake bread, I ended up cranking it out to feed people during our labs and sales rather than getting tips on, say, icing application.  That's ok though, even poor icing skills taste good and satisfy my household!  

Work has been slower, despite the insistence that everyone is bouncing back now. It's kind of discouraging. Some of the markets I used to write for have stopped publishing or changed what they print. In one case, the publication's even been so disorganized or slow to respond that the short deadlines/low pay/weird responses have made it impossible to continue with them. 

In any case, I still had wool to wash this spring, and surprise!  I still know how...even if I wasn't able to write about it for publication. (This was the first of several loads for my household, no way I could do it one garment at a time...)

I'm still here... continuing to pitch publications, I write my column and my knitting designs are still out there on Ravelry, Payhip and Lovecrafts.  I post a bit more frequently on Instagram here: @yrnspinner.

I'm also celebrating our glorious (and short) spring in Winnipeg.

Last but not least?  I've had a very strange work email snafu...if you've reached out to me via email for work reasons since last October?  I may not have your message!  Last weekend, my account somehow disappeared messages from the last 7 months.  No amount of customer service or 'restore' functions seem to be working. Please do reach out if you need anything!  I'm still here, even after this new challenge.

It's been an important reminder, too.  No matter how hard I'm trying, many things are out of my control.  For instance, due to some infill construction near us, we have this large dead tree hanging over our power lines. It's not on our property, so legally, we can't do a thing about it, though of course, like losing work email in a strange blip, it's out of our control.  We cannot fix this.  So I'm trying hard to tilt my head, look at the blossoms in our yard, and hope for the best. 

Scenes from February

February has been full of highs and lows...much like this textured bathroom rug I'm knitting out of my handspun Hebridean and Churro yarns.  On the good side, full of love and busy times at home.  I had a couple articles run in the Vancouver Independent: 

Tu B'Shevat when it's -30

and Rejoice or slog? You choose

and I've submitted some pieces for publication in the fiber arts world, which will hopefully appear in due course!

We've worked hard to keep spirits up during some very cold weather.  My lovely professor bought us flowers from the local florist--while they struggled with a flower shortage and some challenging weather.  We had an extreme weather warning for two weeks or so, and every single day was -40 windchill or colder. No, kids don't go outside at those temperatures, and we adults and the dog only brave it when we must! It has finally "warmed up" in Winnipeg today to -16C (3F) with a windchill of -26C (-13F) and I just about threw the kids, husband and dog outside to get some exercise while they could.  --Note:  I did the first walk this AM, when windchill was -35C, so you know, I'm taking a pass on the second walk!!

I'm continuing to work on a new design when I can fit it in.  Some kind followers on instagram convinced me that my newest wrap looks a lot like 'wings' and a hug.  I'm working on how to name it, as well as writing up the technical details at night when twins are asleep...but hopefully will finish it soon.

I also keep sewing, and while you cannot tell from this crumply looking photo, this dress is adapted from the 100 acts of sewing dress no2 pattern.  It's a green herringbone wool, and it's cozy with a cardigan and wool tights.  I definitely made some errors there in the sewing department, it's not perfect, but I'm continuing to make myself clothing, so I'm proud of that.

We've had a lot of drama lately with keeping the household running.  The cold temperatures make for hard times when the car needs fixing, and our dishwasher line has been freezing pretty regularly. A regular service call for our boiler became a big repair, complete with a new hot water heater as well.  It meant keeping two 9 nine year olds and a dog contained on the third floor for nearly an entire work day so the plumbers could work--and almost $2200 CAD in repairs.  Ouch.  However, we never went without heat and the water wasn't off for long, and during a streak of days when the temperature high was around -30C, well, being warm was most important. 

We're still remote schooling, too...lots of projects in play, including our own virtual week of Festival du Voyageur.  (You know I can't pass up a good festival!)

What's not happening?  Those who follow me because of my opinion columns may notice--none of these have been happening.  Why?  Well, I still try to write them, at night, on weekends--whenever I can fit it in.  However, I haven't had any luck in placing them.  Some editors never respond. Others write kind rejection notes--but nothing is selling.

What's new? I've written about a recent Winnipeg city council decision to support a multi-use development in my neighbourhood which will knock down three homes-- each one is a hundred years old-- to build an enormous new building over three lots.  68 people objected to this, and only 6 people supported it (developers, lawyer, investors, and real estate agents) --but Winnipeg is allowing it to go ahead. (Developers and their money apparently outvote the rest of us?)   

One media outlet didn't acknowledge my submission at all.  The other (local publication) said they couldn't run something like this, because then it would open the floodgates to anyone else who wanted to write about these 'specific disputes' and 'local skirmishes.'

Past pieces-written, but never sold:  About the gendered power politics of mask wearing and making room on the sidewalks...and another, about how nobody likes to hear "I told you so"--even when certain pandemic related events are easily predicted by the scientists. 

Yet, whenever I'm taking it all too seriously, I'm heartened by funny 'art' installations around the house.  I'll leave you with our grassheads, named Bob and Squidward Squeeesh (formerly known as Qushy Gushy.)  Here's hoping for warmer times ahead.

Mari Mitts- a new pattern!

I am so pleased to announce this new knitting pattern--finally! Yes, this is the first one released since January...there were some delays.  Many thanks to the tech editor and test knitter who pushed me onwards, and all those who encouraged me.

I am so proud of this design.  First, the Mari Mitts were a design collaboration between me and one of my twins this spring...we needed whimsy. We needed cheerful distraction.  AND, apparently, my kid needed a THUMB RING like Mommy or Aunt Jen wears sometimes.  On his mitts.  Of course!

Second, this this my first pattern that I published with a Low Vision Accessible pdf option from the first.  This means that it's accessible to those who are vision-impaired, too. It takes more time to do this but it's the right thing to do when I can...  It's worth it.

Here they are!  Just in time, as we had a dusting of snow last night in Winnipeg.

Here's an antidote to dark days ahead..

Inspired by a Marimekko fabric print, these mittens have polka dot whimsy with a thumb ring flourish. This unisex stranded pattern has two sizes, Child’s Large/Women’s Small and Women’s Medium/Large. This includes both a chart and a written instructions. This warm mitten works up quickly in three colors, with US size 3 (3.25mm) and 6 (4mm) double pointed needles at 5 stitches to the inch. Any worsted or aran weight yarn that works to gauge is a good match; yardage varies according to mitten size chosen. Ideal for an advanced beginner or intermediate knitter, this is simple stranded knitting, with only two colors per round. Mari Mitts are ideal for those new to stranded knitting or for the stranded knitting knitter who is new to mitten patterns. 

I used Aran weight yarns: Briggs & Little Tuffy, Lett-Lopi and my own handspun gray Cotswold (from Manitoba sheep!), red medium wool, and naturally black Manitoba alpaca. 

The pattern costs $6 and is available on Lovecrafts.com, in my Payhip store and on Ravelry.  Please check it out!

The Messy Cop

 I recently had an article come out in Ply magazine!  The editors asked me to post about it on social media using this snapshot of my writing. (click on it to embiggen to read it)  I haven't received my magazine yet in Canada...but people have asked me for more info.

I first heard about it via a reader query on Ravelry, saying she liked the cowl I was wearing in the article!  (uhh, I didn't think I'd sent a photo with a cowl in it.)  Oh, she said, had I designed this lacy teal leaf cowl?  Could she purchase it?  Ummm...this is when I wondered if I'd lost my mind. Was it lack of sleep, the street construction jack hammering noise or something else?  I'd designed a lot of cowls, but teal?  Leafy? Lace?  Huh.

Turns out the photos featured with this article don't match anything I sent in my submission. (This happens to freelancers.) The woman featured isn't me, and not sporting any of the cowls, scarves, or shawls I have designed!  (Note, my designs work well in handspun!)  I use commercial yarns in most my design samples to make substitution easier for those who don't spin, but there is always plenty of info for spinners who want to supply their handspun for the patterns.

A friend noticed that the lady in the article didn't look like me.  (She's older, for one) She sent me some photos so I could see the article.  Here are some photos I took for this article that illustrate the messy cop process if you're curious to learn more...my cops look different from what I saw featured there. (These photos weren't published, I own copyright, so they're mine to use as I like.)

#1. Use scrap paper or a stiff bit of cardboard to wrap around the spindle.  Tuck the end of the leader so it sticks out of the bottom of the spindle, towards your hand, for easy access later on.  Wind solely onto the scrap paper for ease of removal later.  I started with blue so you can see the leader clearly in the next photo.

#2 As the cop progresses, wind on however you'd like, as messy as you want --the end result is a ball-- but make sure you can still see that (blue) leader yarn at the bottom so you know you could do a center pull ball for plying later.  Keep the cop on your scrap paper quill.

 #3.  When the spindle no longer spins consistently in the right direction, it's full and too heavy to work effectively.  Gently pull the (round) ball off the spindle shaft, holding onto those two ends.  The paper/cardboard quill inside should remain intact inside the ball.

#4.  Take your ball and wind the two ends together onto a nostepinde or distaff for ease in plying.  If you do not have this tool, you can use: A smooth stick, a yard stick, a pencil, another spindle shaft...whatever's convenient.  I tend to tuck the nostepinde under one armpit when I ply, so if that's your practice, make sure the stick is long enough for this to be comfortable. Armpit sizes vary!
Note: The blue leader is still visible, you can see where I pulled it out of the center pull ball to begin to wind the two plies together.

#5. To complete the plying, you're again putting on the scrap paper, leader at the bottom, and twisting your two plies in the opposite direction.  There were will be no leftovers as you are spinning from both ends of a single messy cop/ball rather than two separate ones.

#6.  If you're making a 4 ply yarn, you're ready to go with the cop on a piece of scrap paper...you can easily access both ends of the ball to ply again.  If not, slip the 2-ply yarn off the spindle: it's ready to skein up so you can wash and set the twist.

OK, that's the whole story!  You don't have to wind on in any kind of zen-tidy way!  Your yarn making will still work just fine.  I hope this is helpful...do leave a comment if you have questions and I'll try to check back to answer them.
All the best,
Joanne

Faster by the day

 There's an old phrase floating around that says something like:
Spinning on a spinning wheel is faster by the hour.  Spindling is faster by the day.  This has gone through my head repeatedly since having kids.  While I was gluing knitting needles and shooting other photos, I hung up some yarn to dry on my (dirty) porch.  First, I hung up an experiment I'd done.



Last summer, I bought some Clun Forest roving from Custom Woollen Mills in Alberta.  It is a down breed, bouncy, and hard to felt.  Perfect for boy mitts.  I spun it up in two ways.  One was a slightly over twisted chunky single ply.  The other, which took much longer, was a skinny single that I plied into a 2 ply.  It's well balanced and the skein looks much nicer.  I will continue onward with this experiment and knit both into mitts.  My best guess is that even though the 2 ply looks nicer and would perhaps last longer, the chunky single will save a lot of time.  My boys don't often lose their mitts, but they do insist on growing, so they outgrow them, but not before they get dirty repeatedly, felted, and well-worn.  Sometimes the end game is about efficiency and not perfection.

The second batch of yarn was ALL spindle spun.  I spun and plied it all on the spindle.  Much of it was spun and plied right on the same porch, as I watched kids.  I have no idea how long I spent on this.  I recently dug around in my spinning basket, noticed a had a lot of odd single balls of spindle spun yarn, and plied them.  That added up and amounted to a lot of yarn!

I have no idea what these skeins will be one day.  What matters here is volume- I was actually productive during those hours on the porch. The kids' wheelbarrow (well-used in 'weeding' play) caught their drips as they dried.

 I often feel stymied by the number of interruptions, illnesses, and other details I manage...it's not a professional 40 hour work week or lifestyle.  However, I recently applied to something and realized that I'd had 60 articles published in the last year.  Sixty!  (some were reprints, but that is ok) So, just like that water dripping, a little at a time does add up after a while!  So...spin on!  (or write on?!)

Oh well

I had a lot of plans in mind for January. Somehow, the month has escaped.  Here is a photo of some handspun that I dyed while I was sick.  I shouldn't have been doing it, but I've had several days when I felt sort of better and wanted to feel a sense of accomplishment.  This was some grayish/oatmeal Border Leicester/Romney wool, blended with a small amount of mohair.  I spun enough for a kid's sweater.  I started spinning this in July, when Wolseley Wool, my local yarn store, hosted a few spinning nights.  (It gave me a great excuse to leave home and spin.)

Naturally colored wool makes a great palette for dyeing because the colors come out with depth--textured and rich in the end.  This quick snapshot doesn't show the depth of color, it was cloudy, but I dyed the yarns to order for my kid, blue and green, and left it out in the dining room for all of us to admire and enjoy a shot of color.

Both my twins were home with me for a week due to illness--today is their first day back at school, I hope they make it through the day.  (More on that another time, when I am more energetic.)

A couple of details in the meanwhile.  I left home to teaching my spinning class, which was well-attended and went very smoothly, considering all the illness and antibiotics at home. There are 11 new spindle spinners in the world!  Hurray!  (I hope they keep up the good work!)

Whenever I am really sick, I enjoy a good wallow in bed with a book when it is possible.  Since I had two little kids home with me, that wasn't always an option, but I did discover something. Rosamunde Pilcher's books are now available as ebooks, and you can download them from Amazon or check them out from the library.  I have been a fan of her books since I was a teenager.  Everything is sort of ok at the beginning of every book, but in the middle, there are hot baths, cups of tea, bracing whiskies, dogs, cats, warm farmhouse kitchens, and eventually, at the end, it is always "happy ever after."  There is something to be said for this kind of reading while sick.  I own some of these books, and I prefer real books to ebooks...but these were written long ago and some are out of print.  Here are a couple links through Amazon to the ones I have read (again) so far.  I'm now in the midst of Voices in Summer.

If you're not sick and up for an exciting spy series, I've been really enjoying Susan Elia MacNeal's Maggie Hope mystery series, but only when I wasn't sick and thinking straight!

Learn to Spin! January 21st in Winnipeg

Want to gain a new skill and chase away some winter doldrums?  Here it is!

Every January the Norwood Naughty Knitters host a fun afternoon of shared crafting in the lovely sunny venue of the Norwood Community Centre in Norwood Flats, with vendors and craft circles throughout the afternoon.

 As part of our ongoing skills sharing program, the Manitoba Fibre Festival is pleased to offer a class at this event. Please email us to register – info@manitobafibrefestival.com

LEARN TO SPIN ON A SPINDLE

Instructor: Joanne Seiff

Sunday January 21
Norwood Community Centre
57 Walmer, Winnipeg, MB.
3 hours: 1:00 – 4:00 pm
Registration fee: $30
Materials fee: $30 – includes everything you need for this class. 

Handspinning with a spindle is an ancient craft that is still important even today.  Everyone in a household, including children as young as four, used to help spin yarn that clothed the family and kept them warm!  Join Joanne and learn a bit about wool and learn to use a handspindle to make your own yarn.  When you leave this class, you’ll own a spindle, some extra wool, and you’ll be able to practice spinning at home.

For more information, check out the Fibre Festival website!

12 years and counting

Anniversary Alert:  My blog is now 12 years old.

In November, 2005, I started this blog with a few test shots.  There was yarn:

There was Sally:

And I am so grateful that these two aspects of my writing life are still with me.  Sally and I are definitely a bit older and grayer in the muzzle.  Harry the dog (RIP) is no longer with us.  But the professor and I keep on keeping on, and while things have changed a great deal, that part is the same.  We now live in a different country (Canada) and have twins, but, well, I am grateful for all that's gone by.

It's been a challenging week...what with twins having the stomach bug.  They got better, while I had several strange work set backs, one after another.  Things felt a bit...umm...black.  I've definitely had a few missteps.  My books took a ride to a book fair--but did not sell a single copy.  My new pattern hasn't really taken off.  (at all.)  It was one downer after another.

I even was prompted to consider whether I should be writing patterns at all anymore...has my career shifted?  Am I doing other things now?  I've been writing about fiber arts and designing knitwear for about 15 years now, and this seemed like a bleak, big choice.

Then something funny happened.  I predominantly sell patterns these days on Ravelry.  I checked out another place where I sell designs...and it turns out things were selling just fine over there.  OK then.  That is good news...

And the Professor had a paper come out.  (I'm linking to an article about his paper...not all of us do genomics & evolution and development...)  So, things are improving.

I'm planning on taking some time to sit on the couch, drink tea, and knit this afternoon.  I've got a roast chicken and roasted root veggies ready to go for supper, and I'm making applesauce in the slow cooker.

Some anniversaries are quiet ones...but if you've been reading the blog for a while (or are brand new!)--I'd love to celebrate with you.  Please leave a comment and say hello and tell me how long you've been reading?

Riding off into the sunset

In between writing articles, and making dinner, we sometimes try to do some creative things.

In order to bring you this post...I've lined up homemade challah (from the freezer), slow cooker leg of lamb (freezer lamb to first slow cooker this AM), potatoes and sweet potatoes (second slow cooker), spelt bread for weekend sandwiches (bread machine is going) and salads for all of us.  I find if I manage to cook ahead a bit, it leaves me feeling less panicked and less likely to give in to expensive take-out, etc.  We're about to enjoy Victoria Day here --May Long Weekend, and that is three days of uninterrupted kid- feeding around here...they sure do eat!

Doing all this crazy planning ahead has given me 10 minutes here and there to do some spinning.  I found some wool roving (unknown medium wool) leftover from a class I taught a while back.  It was a strange small amount, so I decided to use it up.  Then I will likely make a chain 3-ply, and knit it into mittens.  I foresee a need for all new mittens for next winter; twins are growing fast; must be all that food!

In my pre-twin life, I imagined all the creative things I would do with my future kids.  I failed to understand how much time goes into just keeping everybody afloat, honestly.  However, both my boys really wanted their own hobby horses.  I'd read a great book called Rags as a kid, it's by Stella and Linda Allison.  I knew we could do this project.  Our Professor (Daddy) picked up two broom sticks at the hardware store, and we were off.

We had our photo shoot and maiden ride on our new horses (the gray one is a pony, just so you know that, Mommy!) this morning.  The boys helped stuff the doubled wool socks (cast-offs with big holes from Daddy) with some wool fleece that was ideal for stuffing.  The boys stuffed the broom sticks in.  I used duct tape (after bed time) to make sure the fleece did not pop out, nor the heads come off the broom sticks.

   Each kid picked out the eye colors (note: blue eyes for the blue eyed twin, brown eyes for the brown eyed twin) and mane colors.  They cut the mane for me after school one day.  I did all the ear attachment, eye embroidery, mane tying, harness, rein and rosette assembly, etc.

 I haven't done as many of these creative play projects as I had hoped to do, in the halcyon days when I imagined what twin-rearing would be.  There just isn't time.  Late last night, as I attached reins and stitched everything on firmly, I guessed that this project took me at least 5-6 hours of sewing/handwork, not counting the broom stick acquisition, the know-how, and the time I spent getting "help" from twins.  My main work time was between 9-10 at night, when I felt a bit cross-eyed with fatigue and couldn't see to thread needles.  (Yup, need to get my eyes checked, too.)

The best part of all this was to see the boys' enthusiasm, and every morning, they checked to see how their horses were coming along.  They seem to have no idea that some people just buy these things, and that is great, in my opinion.  Hurray for handmade, eco-friendly toys!  We didn't spend much money on these, aside from my time. I could see how this would be a fun thing to do if perhaps I didn't have to make two of everything, assembly line, and fitting in actual work for pay time, maybe if someone else was in charge of dinner. :)

However, my kids don't yet understand any of that, so they're literally planning their first horse race for the front yard when they come home from school this afternoon.

Let the races and adventures begin!

making

Nothing gets me back in my "work groove" better than a little quiet and a chance to do things and make stuff.  This past week has been pretty darn productive.  I've written two articles (and one will go live this weekend sometime), I've done some blocking and knitting, I've mended some clothes--which instantly increases what I can wear again...it's all good.

Both twins are also somewhat better settled when they are back at school, so I love routine.  Part of that routine is getting to do something absolutely crazy beyond producing meals for everyone else--It's eating a homemade lunch, by myself.  Better yet, the lunch doesn't comprise of a calzone or sandwich (things I could eat one handed while trying to feed those babies, for instance) but rather a salad.  here's an improvised delight I ate yesterday.  One cut up leftover baked potato, some spinach, some dilly beans--canned by me in long ago hot summer weather, some leftover 'mediterranean' type salad on top (cut up tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, with oil, vinegar, and Italian herbs), topped by plain yogurt and some peanuts for crunch.  Eclectic?  yup.  Good?  You bet.  And...I did not have to compete with two five year olds over the salad, which, by the way, is an issue.  I have two boys who love salad but will eat it all before I get to serve myself any!  

 Also on the schedule?  Writing up a pattern to submit as part of my local festival's collection!  Here's the sample, all blocked and tidy.  The yarn?  Handspun flax, from TapRoot Fibre Lab.

That one bead?  Recycled glass, purchased from an African fair trade vendor, at a long ago street fair.  Having a deep stash is great when it comes to finding that perfect bead or button...
Happy Spring Making!
Joanne

fibery update

I think this is the preschooler virus winter.  There are kids at school who have been more sick, with antibiotics and there are kids who have bypassed it all.  For us, it has amounted to a day or two on the couch with one or two sick kids nearly every single school week since January, and many weekends.  Both boys had a pretty quiet weekend and stayed home on Monday, and I assigned them each a living room couch.  They went back to school Tuesday, and they seem to be doing ok for now.  That might change at any time.

We normally pvr the specific educational kids' shows that we let them watch, but I have given in to the inevitable...when somebody is home now, we have "sick TV."  That is just leaving on CBC kids or PBS or Family Jr (the three kid oriented channels we get) on.  I know some kids watch this much TV every day--crazy! but we only do it when somebody is too sick to make it at preschool.

Older kids read when they are sick (I certainly did) but my guys aren't readers yet.  So, we take naps, have snacks, and watch a lot of "sick TV" on the couch.  Oh well.  They seem to learn stuff from it.  As soon as they are well enough to play normally, the two of them raise heck, so then it's time to go back to school!

Sick TV lets me do the bare minimum in our house.  I used to think that a sick day would allow for endless knitting time.  Not so.  It allows me to do the three extra loads of laundry (sick kids, remember?) and figure out the next meal and snack.  It lets me do crazy things like trying to answer emails in a timely fashion.  It lets me (gasp here) go to the bathroom by myself, although even that requires strategies.

When folks are well enough to play, I can spin on my wheel in the basement playroom.  Here are four new skeins of hand spun yarn produced recently:

The fuschia/burgundy skein is a one ply single of burgundy/fuschia medium wool, with multi-color wool locks spun in.  It was then plied with a commercial yarn: a matching high twist mercerized cotton embroidery floss with a lot of shine.

The white/pink skein is one ply of Romney/Texel wool (Manitoba wool) spun from the lock, plied with a commercial pink cotton/viscose yarn with little added bits of silk warp leftovers/thrums.

Then, there's one skein of Border Leicester wool (naturally brown, washed, picked, carded and spun by me) plied with an aqua commercial silk yarn, and a 2 ply Border Leicester skein of yarn that matches this.  

I dropped those 4 skeins of at Ram Wools this week; they're for sale if you're interested.  I think the art yarns would look great with a laceweight yarn or thread, knitted up as scribble lace.  If you buy two matching skeins, it would be enough for a cowl or hat.

When my fiber time is so short, I look at old projects in a new way.  I want to save old things, darn and fix and renovate.  My best guess is that I started the first version of Heart's Ease Socks in 2006, according to this blog post.  My Heart's Ease socks have been worn faithfully most Februaries, right around Valentine's.  However, this year found me pulling the socks out of my drawer permanently.  Knit Picks' Palette yarn is not a super wash wool, and my sock had fulled (nearly felted) through wear.  I wear my clothing very hard, so this isn't a real surprise, but now the socks were hard to pull over my heel to get on.

However, they seem to make mighty fine mitts.  I cut a hole in the heel, picked up stitches on a set of  2.5mm double point needles, and knitted a thumb tip for each sock.  I went back after I knitted the thumbs and reinforced that join between the old heel stitches and the new thumbs.  I haven't gotten a chance to wear them yet, but I think they will be a warm and cheery winter layer.

The reason I haven't worn them yet is that it has been unseasonably warm!  Only around freezing (OC, 32F) and that is shockingly warm for March in Manitoba.  All the snow is melting early, and I hardly need double layer mitts anymore.  What a surprise.

I was extremely lucky in that weather on Tuesday, when my whole day spiraled out of control.  I brought the boys to preschool (kicking and screaming that they were TOO SICK, MOMMY!  I ignored that.  If they are well enough to scream like that?  They're fine.) and dropped them off at school.  There, I discovered there was a parent board meeting, and I felt guilty so I went.  When that ended, I rushed to the grocery store.

I did a big shop, got everything into the car, and sat down to look at the receipt, where I discovered an error.  Rushing in to try to get it fixed?  I locked my keys in the car.  AHHHH!  The professor was in the middle of lecturing to his class, and his car was in the shop, so no help there, he couldn't help me.  I hiked through the yucky dirty melting snow drifts to the boys' preschool.  A teacher (an angel in disguise!) was outside and drove me home.  I dug through another dirty snow drift to find that special hidden key...let myself in, got the spare key, the teacher drove me back to the car in the grocery store parking lot, and I could drive home.  Thank goodness.

Then I unloaded all those groceries, rushed to a physio/physical therapy class, and came back to pick up the boys.  That was it.  The whole day.  Gone.  No work time to speak of.

All I could think of was how lucky I'd been.  It wasn't -40 out, I could walk places.  I found help.  I hadn't been trying to do it with both 4 year olds in tow.  All good.  Not exactly time for writing or spinning or teaching, but given the situation?  It could have been much, much worse...  

Big day

Yesterday seemed like a big day; a soaring end to a good week...my twins were back at preschool all week.  I had time to work and even make banana chocolate chip muffins. (full of spelt flour, oats, and other secret healthy bits) We had a really fun children's program at synagogue Saturday morning, everyone seemed good.

I also had an opinion piece come out on the CBC:
Snow removal-more precisely, lack of snow removal-carries hidden costs

and today we are having a blizzard warning, so it seemed like great timing.

I also was quoted in a Winnipeg Free Press article, called Wool Warriors:Knitters use their craft to campaign for change.  The online version is different from the one in the newspaper...the paper actually features a photo of me as well!  I was proud to see the focus on knitting as an activist enterprise, full of political and social repercussions...and it linked in nicely to what I heard at Ram Wools when I visited the yarn shop a couple of days ago...the campaign to provide handknit woollies (and other warm clothes) for newcomers to Canada has reached something like 1800 pieces, very nearly reaching its goal of 2000 items.  Another way knitting makes positive change for the world.

I'd even managed to deliver more skeins of handspun to Ram Wools--they are selling some of my yarn, which is great, because it boosts their locally made products AND helps me empty out some of my stockpile. (I've been spinning while watching the boys play in the basement playroom after school.  It helps me sometimes catch their fights and keep them from killing each other...)

(L to R: Naturally brown 2 ply Shetland, Brown Sheep wool mill ends/brown wool/blue soysilk and blue mohair, white skein is one ply of Romney/Texel wool, plied with commercial cotton/viscose yarn which holds in bits of shell colored silk waste thrums)

Yesterday, I noticed that the twin sweater I knit in November was already unravelling at the neck edge where a strand of the yarn had broken already.  I caught it quickly and managed to re-knit a new edging before the whole sweater unravelled.  (Note: Use more hearty yarns to make little boy sweaters next time...)

It was foreshadowing.  We got home yesterday, had lunch together, and I put both boys down for a well-deserved nap.  By 2:30, the first kid was wide awake and screaming...and the stomach bug was back, with a vengeance.  I was up nearly all night with the second kid while he was ill.  So, you know, just when things seem awesome and I'm too big for my britches, it is an important time to stay humble.  Cause there were at least three sets of bedding to change, and kids to mop up and comfort.  Cause this part, the virus part, is real life, and the other stuff?  Not nearly as likely to happen again any time soon... Oh well.

If you're local, this yarn might be waiting for you at Ram Wools on Portage Ave...but maybe wait until tomorrow, when the winds and snow die down and the yarn shop opens again?!

Snow time and stash

It's here!  Snow time!  On Wednesday night, my twins were up half the night...which is not all that unusual, actually (yes, we still don't have good sleep, I am one tired Mommy) but the main excitement was the SNOW.  Yep.  We now have snow on the ground, and barring weird melting events, it is likely to stay there until April or so.  

This correlated with another exciting moment.  I have finished the first twin sweater of the season.  Each boy gets a new handknit sweater (from me or from their Didi --grandma--) each year, at minimum, and luckily, we are still fitting into most of our sweaters from last year.  However, this one was absolutely knit to order.  I used Rowan Felted Tweed dk, which I am not in love with, but all the "best" colors were on sale at the yarn shop this summer, so there you have it.  75% natural fibers (wool and alpaca) AND much softer than last year's Lett Lopi Icelandic wool, which I love, but which was pronounced too fuzzy and furry.  (they still wear it willingly on cold days, just with a long sleeve shirt with a collar underneath.)  I used a variation on this pullover because I have the pattern book and I did not want to design a whole new sweater from scratch!

Here are two photos of the sweater.  Due to the gray, windy, snowy day, I had to adjust the light in the images, even when I took them outside on the porch.  True color replications are nowhere to be found on a day like that!

When I announced that sweater #1 was finished, the other twin burst into tears because his sweater isn't ready yet.  He has ordered a chocolate brown with blue edging sweater, and depending on the moment, it will be a lightweight, heavyweight, henley, cardigan, pullover, with or without stripes. :)  Anyway, based on the gauge swatch, it will likely end up being something fairly similar to the one I just knit.

There are some special touches worth noting.  I've been spinning some chocolate brown wool while the boys play in the basement, and it is a great color, but the yarn is a bit too bulky for what I think this twin might need.  (He already has his fair share of heavyweight sweaters, regardless of style.)

So, I dug into the stash, and found this.  It's a brown handspun Shetland 2-ply, roughly 600-700 yards, that I spun on my Canadian Production Wheel.  I kind of knew where it was in the stash, and I used my blog search function to find out the yardage...cause I wrote about it in 2009.  Bingo.   I got the gauge wrong back then, or at least, I am going to knit it at a looser gauge now, on a #5 (3.75mm) needle...but when I found it, I found the perfect blue yarn to go with it.

Yup, I wrote a post that featured the perfect blue merino/silk contrast color in 2005.  There is something to be said for a deep stash!  I have sold or given away loads of yarn in the last 10 years, but these handspun skeins were saved and moved to Canada because who knew?  One day I would have a twin four year old who asked for this...

He stopped crying when I gave him his very own gauge swatch to race with...around the house.  (At first there was confusion over whether this was a watch, which both boys clearly wanted more than a gauge swatch, but whatever...)

I don't list my yarn stash on Ravelry (hey now, this is big.  It is nobody's business!), but I do have this blog.  This ten year old blog, where I've been talking yarn, and wool, and knitting, and spinning, and stories---for a good long time.  That is worth celebrating this month, as the blog turns ten.

Meanwhile, while I cherish these things I tucked away, I am also getting ready to give away a lot of woollies for our newcomers.  Manitoba is hosting 2,000 refugees, and they are coming soon!  I feel lucky to live among people who are opening their hearts and communities to those in need.  This article says it best....or maybe we could just open with We were strangers once, in the land of Egypt...?