A Trip to the Farm

Our last day of Spring Break fun was spent at two lovely little farms that belong to family members.   Little being a relative term of course.   Both farms are about 25 acres each and have horses, cows, a few chickens and a couple or three donkeys.  Check out this house on my cousin's farm:

The barns for the farm are across a good sized pond.  On the other side of the farm you can see this:

Oh, and look at this old copper washing machine that we saw in the barn.  Thank God for modern appliances.

We also saw this cute little fellow poking his head through a wall in the stalls:

And of course, if you are on a farm, you have to drive a tractor don't you?

I got a souvenir from the farm as well.  As soon as I turned by back on one of the cows, she decided to lick the side of my pants leg.  Yuck.  Cows have slimy dirty tongues.

Apparition Yarn

There's been no knitting while at the lake.  Not because I didn't bring it, but because I've been playing with this:

It's been forever since I've gotten out my wheel, but I was inspired on this trip.   The first fiber that I spun was 4 ounces of 100% merino from the KnitWitch from her Essoterica line in the "Apparition" colorway which you can see in this post.   Yes, it's been almost a year since it was purchased.  I'm a little slow to get things done, okay?

Here it is pre-drafted into some little bird's nests:

And here are the singles from it:

Finally, it was Navajo plied into this:

It's still on the bobbin and hasn't been blocked yet.  I'll probably wait until I get home to finish up the yarn that I make while I'm down here at the lake.  It's a lovely yarn and the pics aren't doing it justice.  Once it's finally finished I'll be sure and show you how it ultimately turns out.

If you look at the link to the fiber that I purchased last year, besides the Knit Witch yarn, you'll see another bit of roving as well.  I'm currently getting it predrafted and ready for spinning now.  8 ounces of luscious softness.  70% wool and 30% seacell in a wonderful coral based colorway.  I'm having a ball spinning yarn this week!

The Trip to Podunk

Today we took the boys to Cheaha State Park.  It's part of the Appalachian mountains and is the highest point in the state of Alabama and it's a beautiful "little" park, if your definition of little is 2719 acres.    It's also one of the oldest parks in the state. 

The pics are not great.   I forgot my camera and had to use my cell phone camera.

This old building's stone work was lovely.  The kids kept getting put out with me for making them stand still to take pics.

It got a little sunny at the park too.

Later we enjoyed driving an hour longer than we should have thanks to getting lost coming down the mountain.  One wrong turn and you end up in Podunk, AL.  I wouldn't suggest doing that.  The Clampett's will be glad to see you though.  Oh, and their neighbors, Ma and Pa Kettle.  

I'm exhausted now and am going to go sip on my Margerita.  Night all!

Easter Fun

Day One of Spring Break began with Easter Day at the lake:


The men folk went fishing:

 Mommy made them all look bad, I caught a catfish.  It wasn't exactly what I was fishing for, but who worries about that anyway?  No fish were harmed and all were thrown back.  Please don't sic PETA on me, okay?


We also proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that my Mom's cat is demonic (and we did it on Easter too):

There was also some Easter Egg hunting:

Oh, and there might have also been some booty shaking, but we're not going to tell the Pastor that the booty shaking was done on a Sunday:

Easter Decorations

We've completed the final decorations for Easter.   What do you think of them?

You wouldn't believe how long he left that egg up on top of his head, at least 10 minutes.  The cat decorator thought this was fabulous fun:

The photographer snuck in a Toe Floof pic, just for herself:

I'm off to the lake for Spring Break & Easter.  Posting may be sporadic at best next weekend due to poor internet connections and speed there.

Have a great Easter everybody!

Easter is Upon Us!

Easter is upon us and preparations have been made.  Tell me if you can guess what these are:

No, it's not giant teeth.

What about this, know what it is?

It's definitely not giant Calamari Rings.

These?

They could be pickets for a cute little picket fence, but they're not.

When those not-pickets were being cut up, there were some pointy shaped leftovers.  See what the Youngest did with them (check out the cape too):

Okay, I'll have mercy on you.   I bet you can guess what they are now:

Yep, Bunny Ears.  The Youngest's class party is today and I was scrambling to get these made in time. 

I used one giant (36" x 60") piece of white Foamies and two of the regular (11" x 17") size pink Foamies to make them.  At JoAnn's they were charging $.99 per (11" x 17") sheet.  At that price, this project could get expensive real fast when you need enough to make 12 hats.  But I found the giant roll of white Foamies on an endcap on the aisle and they were charging only $7.99 for it.

I would have needed 3 regular white sheets per child (12 kids).  Ouch.  Without the big roll or a coupon I would have paid $38.00 for 12 hats or $3.16 per kid. 

With the roll and a 40% off coupon the Total price for 12 hats = $6.80 or $.56 per child.  Much better.

The bands that go around the head was 4" x 20" and was stapled together at the back of the head (smooth side of the staple to the inside please.)  I made a template of the white part of the ear and drew it onto the big sheet.  I made a smaller template for the pink part of the ear.  Assembly of the ears was done with regular glue and then the ears were stapled onto the back as well.  I'm a big fan of staples, can you tell?

Super easy Easter project and they turned out darned cute if I do say so myself:

Sheepy Dinks

I'm still on a Shrinky Dink kick over here at House O'Shea.  These are so much fun and can be pretty useful too.  Wait a minute.  Shrinky Dinks?  Useful?  Well, in this case, they are.  Except I prefer to call them Sheepy Dinks.

Sheepy Dinks Gift Tags:

More gift tags:

Yet more:

And these?  These are destined to become stitch markers:

Yep, Shrinky Dinks and Stick Figure Sheep.  More fun than they have a right to be!

A Look At My Ravelry Store

Hey All!  For those not in Ravelry, you can now see my small portion of it here.  They are allowing me to be one of the testers of this and I'm tickled to death to be able to show it to you.  You won't be able to see all of Ravelry yet unless you are a registered user, but it's cool that they are letting everybody get a taste of it now.

They are planning on opening everything up to the public eventually, but for now registration is required.  Which is not a big deal since if they'll let me in, they'll let anybody in!  If you are a knitter, crocheter or spinner, I encourage you to join.  The pattern database alone is worth it, not to mention being able to see how patterns work up on real people.  Then there are the forums, groups, etc.  Very cool.

More Thoughts on Design and the Value of Swatching

As with any hobby or vocation, in knitting there are various levels of proficiency from beginner to expert.  

As an Absolute Beginner I found that I didn't really "think" about knitting very much at all.  I just got a pattern, the yarn required for it and went at it.  I never saw the value of the swatch and so didn't do one.  I got lucky.  There were never any sizing woes despite not doing a swatch.

Then, in the Intermediate Beginner stage, I said, "Oh!  So that's why they tell you to do a swatch,"  but I only rarely did it and problems occurred.  Again, not hugely problematic, but I started to actually be aware of the issues.  At this stage I also began reading charts and had most of the standard lingo down pat.

When I hit the Advanced Beginner stage I did my swatches regularly, thus got gauge regularly and could pick up just about any pattern and get through it.  Charts were no problem and neither were lace or cables.

I would classify myself now as an Intermediate Knitter.  I'm starting to tackle the Why's and Wherefore's of my chosen favorite hobby.  (Notice I said favorite.  You have no idea how many hobbies I have.  I'm a chronic hobbyist.)  I can now modifiy patterns on the fly and even create some basic ones.  But I still feel like a fledgling just learning to flex it's wings.   You know you've hit the intermediate stage in any endeavor when you say to yourself "I'm really good at this!" and then are brought crashing down to reality and are humbled by how much you still have to learn.

Case in point:  I drew up a sketch of a sweater that I want to create.  I was good and made swatches of the various patterns that I want in it, mainly to check my gauge and to do all the math-y things that are required when creating.  However, I learned so much more this time from my swatches than I expected to.


On my stockinette swatch, using 100% wool, I went up a couple of needle sizes and got a fabric that is a little less dense and therefore has more drape and really liked it.  It's not so loose that it has gaping holes, but the fabric is not stiff either. 

The cable swatch, done on the same needle size was done mainly to test that I could do the cable and that worked a treat too. 

But where I ran into problems was at the bottom of the sweater.  I wanted a textured stitch for more interest.  I wanted something beyond garter, ribbing, seed or moss stitch that wouldn't curl.  I thought that I had found the perfect stitch pattern for it.  Again, using the same needle size,  I swatched it up and was all proud of myself, but what I got, I didn't really expect.  Yes, it's beautiful and doesn't curl a bit.  Yay for that.  However, my fabric came out far more dense than expected. 

Here's the two swatches side by side:

The one on the right almost has the denseness of crochet.  There's no fluidity at all to the swatch.  A little too sturdy for the project that I have in mind.  Does anyone want a dense fabric with very little give to it sitting right on their hips and adding bulk?  No, I don't think so.  Back to the drawing board for me.  I'm now off to hunt a new stitch pattern that fulfills my needs a bit better.

Lesson learned:  Sometimes the value of the swatch is not just in the gauge that it gives you.  It's what it can tell you from a design standpoint;  How will a certain type of yarn perform in a given situation.  Is it stiff? fluid? have more/less drape?  Does the pattern complement or take away from other elements in the design? These are so important to know.  It's amazing the information that can be gathered in just a four inch square of knitting.

Reverse Engineering

A year ago I bought the Youngest a blue cabled sweater at a children's consignment sale.  He wore it a couple of times, but it wasn't his favorite and it wasn't the real reason that I purchased it anyway.  The sole reason that I got the sweater was for the really cool cable that covered the sweater.  That little sweater had been living in a drawer until a couple of days ago.

I had an idea for a sweater that I wanted to design and the cable would be perfect for it.  The problem that I had was that I had no idea how to do the cable.  So last night I got started with reverse engineering it.  The cable was actually not as hard as I expected it to be.  From the front, the one that I came up with looked identical to my example.  But from the back?  Nope.  So I tried again.

This time, I got it right.  Here's the back:

See the two knit columns that are going up the back?   The swatch hasn't yet been blocked, so it's curving more that I'd like, but I'll fix it later.  The vertical lines are what I was trying to achieve.  Hopefully it will help the structural integrity of the piece and help keep the fabric from going all wonky and out of proportion to the rest of the piece.

Now here's my swatch from the front:

Isn't that a cool looking cable?  Notice the oval within an oval.  Around the base of the smaller oval are two smaller cables.  I love it.

Once I figured out how to make it, I started trying to find ways to make it simpler.  Ya know what?  I tried three different variations that all looked the same, but I kept coming back over and over to the first one that I tried.   When I do cabling, I don't use a cable needle (thanks to an Annie Modesitt class), but if I'm going to write this pattern up, I'm going to have to write it up for those that do use the needles.  That's not the problem.  The real issue is that this cable is going to require the knitter to use two cable needles.

I found two ways of not doing this, but I couldn't get the stitch on the back to run vertically up and down the piece and I think it's going to be too important to the sweater to leave it out.  What a pain. This would have been a lot easier if someone had just written this out for me, ya know. 

That being said, I'm really proud of how it looks and of figuring it out on my own.

Perfect Greenapple

I picked up a new project for my trip to South Carolina, Stephanie Japel's Perfect Periwinkle from her book Fitted Knits.   Except it's not periwinkle, it's more of a greenapple and it's not done in wool, it's cotton.  I mean, who in their right mind would want a tank top in wool?  Especially here in the Deep South? It gets a little hot and humid here ya know.

Here's the progress so far:

I almost feel sorry for Ms. Japel.  There are mistakes in  the beginning of the pattern and there is errata out there for it.  Unfortunately, the errata still doesn't clear up all the confusion.  Reviews on Ravelry have not been particularly kind about all the mistakes.  I wonder if the mistakes on the designer's side or if the problem happened at the publisher?  

Once past the mistakes, it's not a difficult pattern at all, very simple and very sexy when worked up.  I'm really liking it as a matter of fact and can't wait to wear it.  I'm using Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton! for the yarn in the Sage colorway, but I think it looks more like Jolly Ranchers green apple candy myself.  

I modified the neck.  It's supposed to be a 5 inch turtleneck and I made it 3 inches so that it's more of a mock turtleneck.   The heat and humidity thing, remember?   No other modifications other than correcting the pattern and errata mistakes so far.  The project is young yet though.  I'm sure other mods will creep their way in sooner or later.

Fresh Pasta!

I spent my afternoon making fresh pasta! 

My Mom and I went thrift store shopping one afternoon and found a pasta maker.  It had oodles of attachments, a manual and a video for $12.50.  We figured, what the heck, let's give it a try.  So home it went.  One of the neat things about this machine is the different pasta attachments.  I can make so many different  shapes and sizes.

I found that there's a little bit of a learning curve and at one point I almost pitched the whole thing into the trash can.  It was supposed to come with a special measuring cup that tells you exactly how much liquid to mix with the flour.  Of course, it was missing,  but I persevered until I figured out the mix by trial and error (2 parts flour to a little less than 1 part liquid) and look:

I made pasta!

This is so cool.  I've never made fresh pasta before and it tasted fantastic.  I'm going to go make up another couple of batches tonight and freeze it.  It'll keep for up to 6 months in the freezer, but there's no way that this is going to sit in there for that long.  It got a huge thumbs up from the kiddos too.  Nice.

Adventure in SC

Traveling to rural South Carolina to visit distant family is always an adventure. 

We saw a forest fire starting up (Pic taken while in a 70mph moving vehicle):

And then came across what somebody in rural SC feels is a proper home addition:

 Maybe it's the Mother In Law Suite?

And my Dad wonders why I make fun of South Carolina.

The Dreaded Third Sock Syndrome

Just when you think all is going your way, Murphy shows up.  I had finished 7/8's of my second Sidewinders sock.  I tried it on.  It was way too tight.  I'm not sure if I left off a couple of rows or if my grafting was too tight and had no give.  Perhaps a combination of both.  But that's not the worst of it.

I continued to push my foot through it, like a royal dummy, and guess what happened? 

A De-Freakin'-Disaster happened:

The grafting gave way and broke in the middle.  Stitches came undone and began running for the hills.

At this point, I don't know what to do.  Even if I fix the stitches ( I caught the little buggers by the way) I still have to contend with the grafting line being broken and that creates a real weak spot in the sock.  Oh, and lest we forget, the stupid thing is already too tight.

I'm considering frogging the whole d@mn thing and beginning it again.  It's too tight anyway, a few more rows would definitely help.  But I can't think of that right now.  It's just too overwhelming.  It's going into the WIP pile to live over the weekend while I consider what to do.

I really don't want to do this sock a third time.  Oh No!  It's the dreaded Third Sock Syndrome!  ACK! 

I'm going out of town to a family reunion this weekend and taking a new project altogether.  I need something new to clear away the little black rain cloud that's flying over my head.

Have a great weekend!

Chimera Fingerless Mitts Pattern

Chimera: A fanciful mental illusion or fabrication.

 The Chimera Fingerless Mitts Pattern

$2.50

Test knitting was done, pattern corrected and now it's making it's debut!

I'm very excited to be able to offer this one.  It was a long time in the making and I loved every second of the design process.  It's got a little something for everyone, including cables, lace and a different pattern for both the top of the mitt and the palm. 

Top of the Mitt

The Palm of the mitt was designed with a horizontal garter stitch pattern.  This keeps the palm of the mitt snug, but very stretchy and allows for a comfortable fit for multiple sizes of hands.

Palm of the Mitt

Pattern Specs:

Needle Size:  US size 6

Needle Type:  dpns, two circs, or magic loop

Yarn:  Any worsted weight

Yardage:  Approx. 177 yards

Size: One size fits most

Gauge: 6 stitches and 12 rows = 1 inch in garter stitch 

The Chimera Fingerless Mitts look difficult, but are really simple.  If you love cables and lace, this is the pattern for you.

DIY WPI Tool Tutorial

 The Background:

So what is WPI anyway?   It's an acronym for Wraps Per Inch and it's a really useful way to see if a yarn can be substituted in a project for another yarn.
 
Why have a WPI Tool?  A WPI tool lets you know how many wraps per inch a certain yarn has. This allows for yarn substitutions in patterns for knitters and crocheters. For spinners, it allows you to match your yarn thickness to the standard sizes for yarn.   You can use a standard ruler to do this, but if you're on the go, a long ruler just won't fit into a project bag, unless you broke it into pieces and that could get messy and you might get splinters.

Once I have one, How do I use it?  Begin wrapping the yarn around the middle with the yarn touching, but not pulled too tight. Once you have wrapped the yarn all the way across, you can find the number of wraps per inch.   After you have counted how many strands have been wrapped around the tool, you can match it to the chart below:

Yarn Sizes

Ultrafine      (Lace Weight)          = 18 or more WPI

Fine              (Fingering Weight)  = 16 WPI

Medium       (Sport Weight)        = 14 WPI

Heavy          (Worsted Weight)   = 12 WPI

Bulky            (Bulky)                    = 10 WP

Very Bulky   (Extra Bulky)          = 8 or fewer WPI

The Tutorial:

Okay, now that's the background, let's get to making our own WPI Tool!

Supplies Needed:

Shrinky Dinks (Polysterene Plastic)  - #6 recyclable plastic can also be used
Template
Sharpie Marker
Oven - toaster oven can be used as well
Cookie Sheet
Tape
Scissors

Take a sheet of Shrinky Dink plastic and place it on top of your template (the link to the template is listed above.  Please let me know if anyone has trouble accessing it.)  I used painter's tape to secure the plastic while I used my marker.  The type of Shrinky Dink plastic that you use really doesn't matter.  As a matter of fact, you'll see two different kinds used in this tutorial and I'll explain why in just a minute.

Using the template beneath the plastic, trace the "I" shape onto the plastic.

Once this is done you can begin decorating it if you wish.  Of course I wished, this is the fun part!  I free handed some sheep onto mine.  I have very little artistic ability, which is obvious if you look at their feet.  Yeah, stick feet, the feet of champion amateur cartoonists everywhere.

The template does not have the sheep on it, you'll have to draw your own, or better yet, come up with something really creative.

An optional step is using a standard hole punch to make a hole in the corner of the plastic:

This allows you to attach it to your spinning wheel or your project bag.  I'll be using a key chain on mine and attaching it to my spinning wheel.

Next, set your oven to 300 degrees F.   Let it fully preheat before trying to shrink the plastic.   Get your cookie sheet (or in this case a jelly roll pan) and place your plastic on it.  You can put a piece of paper underneath it if you wish.  I did it both ways, with and without paper and it works just fine.

Now for the old switch-a-roo.  In this step, I wanted to try something a little different.  Don't do this next part, cause it didn't work worth a flip, but it will explain the difference in the type of Shrinky Dink plastic that you seen in the next pic.  I put another piece of paper on top of the plastic and then a second cookie sheet on top  of that in a vain attempt to prevent curling issues.  It sort of fused the paper and the plastic together and I threw the whole thing in the trash.  Thus the switch to the translucent plastic.  Ahem.  Moving on now.   :cough:  You may resume using the directions.

Bake for 3.5 or 4 minutes.  It will curl, that's part of the fun of Shrinky Dinks, isn't it?   However, the corners may curl in too much and stick to the center and not flatten out again.  If this happens, using a couple of forks, or skewers, popsicle sticks, etc  (By the way, you have no idea how odd the word popsicle  looks until you've typed it a few times and then it just starts to look misspelled every single time it's typed) and gently pry them apart and bake it some more until the plastic flattens out.  Take it out of the oven and let it cool before taking it off of the cookie sheet.  If you place the plastic directly on the pan with no paper between, it will stick when it first comes out of the oven.  Don't panic.  Once cooled, it will pop right off.

If there is some distortion in your tool, you can re-bake it and flatten it out again.  When it comes out of the oven, you can flatten it out by putting a piece of paper over the plastic and then use an oven mitt to press down gently on it for a second or two.

Hey Look!  Your very own WPI Tool! 

Enjoy!  I look forward to seeing everybody's new toy!