Studio 49 Retreat 2017 Challenge

I got this lovely creamy white Polwarth from the Studio 49 Retreat 2016 goodie bag. Two oz. of fiber. The challenge rules state that we can add up to 50% of other fiber if we want. I have this super soft natural grey BFL (Bluefaced Leiciester) roving that I am going to pair with the Polwarth. One ply of each, spun woolen with long draw. I haven't done a lot of long draw spinning so I thought I'd brush up my skills.

This bundle of fiber is for my sister who does not spin but does knit. And instead of fighting a deadline like I did for the 2016 retreat, I got started right away on spinning. 

The singles spun clockwise long draw.

And the finished yarn. Two ply, 334 yards, 4 oz. Still needs wet finishing.

For myself, I have 6 oz. of Polwarth to spin. The 2 oz. from the goodie bag and another 4 oz. I purchased. I may or may not add the BFL. The creamy white Polwarth is so pretty on it's own. I haven't decided yet what to do for my own bundle of fiber.

I have sampled different plies. Left to right, 4-ply cable, 3-ply (two plies of Polwarth and one of BFL), 2-ply (one ply each BFL and Polwarth), 2 ply both Polwarth.

Now I have to decide.

Weaving Demo

Ian's 4th grade teacher is teaching the class how to weave on a cardboard loom. It's part of a section on Native American studies they are learning about.

I volunteered to demo weaving on my Cricket loom. That's me showing samples. After showing the kids what I do, they got to weave on the loom themselves.

These are the finished samples. Each kid got to weave 2 picks of weft. The red sample is from Ian's Green team and the blue sample is from the Blue team.

I'm weaving off the rest of the warp and plan to felt the fabric to make coasters.

Cotton Bale

On a brisk December morning last winter, I had an opportunity to dig into a bale of Cotton.

Do you know how big a bale of cotton is?!? 450 lbs of ginned (the seeds removed) fiber. A block of cotton smashed into a rectangular shape about 5 ft by 3 ft by 3 ft. It was huge!

As you can see, the bale was a little dirty, a little saggy, but clean under the surface.

Since I didn't think I could spin 450 lbs. of cotton by myself any time soon, I thought I'd share. I invited spinners from my Saturday group and from GLASG to come and share the bounty. About 5 spinners showed up and more requested I save some for them to be delivered later. I was happy to do that.

As we dug into the fiber, we discovered that the center had rotted out and been eaten away by creatures unknown.

Close up of the center rot.

Then I heard the history of the bale from the Centennial Farm manager...The bale was purchased 20+ years ago to display with the few rows of cotton plants in the garden section of the farm. The bale was left outside in the elements for all that time. In late 2015 the management bought a new bale of cotton weighing in at a colossal  600 lbs. and was even bigger. Clean and now with it's own little house. No rot for this bale.

What to do with the old bale was the new problem. The farm was just going to throw it away. My local guild, SCWSG, demonstrates at the summer county fair every year so the they contacted us first. The offer was to have someone take it away in their giant RAM tough truck or set a date to have folks come and take what they wanted. I set a date and invited people. I'm kind of glad no one offered to take the whole bale after we discovered the rot inside. Ultimately, it was fun to dig into the cotton and rescue what we could. I estimate we salvaged altogether about 50 lbs. of fiber.

Ian had friends that came to visit the farm with us. What was left of the bale is behind them.

And just because they were so cute...I have to show the piglets we saw that day...

Mustard & Mushrooms

Mustard & Mushrooms. I won this fiber in a South Coast Weavers and Spinners Guild raffle sometime last year. 2 oz. of  Baby Camel, Merino Wool and Cultivated Silk from Capistrano Fiber Arts Studio. The fiber was originally called "Banana Slug". But I prefer my new choice. The fiber was a quick and fun spin. I chain-plied the single yarn to keep the colors clear. I ended up with 155 yards of 3 ply yarn.

This lovely fiber...

Became this yarn on my Ashford Joy wheel...

And then became this skein of squishy soft yarn...

 Here is a detail for the various colors. So pretty.

Studio 49 Retreat 2016

My 11th retreat with some wonderful people up in Northern CA. Part of the Motherlode Weavers & Spinners Guild, Studio 49 meets on Saturdays for more textile arts.

The first retreat was in 2006. I went with my dear friend, Kathleen, when I was 7 months pregnant with Ian. The weekend was intimate, small and full of comradery. I've been every year thus far and it has retained the same intimacy and friendship. I just love this group of weavers, spinners, knitters, dyers and artists. We've changed locations, weather fronts, food options and activities, but the loveliness remains the same.

My sister, mom and best friend caravaned up in two cars stuffed to the rafters with all the paraphernalia we might need for a 3 day stay. Sleeping gear, clothes for all weather, crafts to do, crafts to share, items to sell, gifts to give and of course an empty bag or two to bring home all the goodies we might collect.

Sunrise Saturday morning. The hill on the right is still a bit blackened from the Yosemite fire 2 years ago. We weren't sure if the retreat was going to happen that year. The fire was under control just in time.

Our shared Studio 49 Retreat 2015 10th anniversary fiber goodies. I love the different ways the same fiber get spun up with different hands touching it. My Deadline shawl is on the bottom right.

Made by retreat fairies, these handmade, hand quilted, hand appliqued placemats were a gift to every attendee at the annual luncheon tea. Aren't they just adorable?!?

Retreat swag. An apron, 2 oz. of Polworth Top (our challenge fiber for 2017), knitting patterns, fiber samples, handmade soap, and a hand sewn drawstring bag sewn by the same retreat fairies.

Stuff I bought. More Polworth Top (because 2 oz. is just not enough!), fiber batts from Dreamy Goat Design Studio, knitted sheep bag by Lea, handwoven scarf by Virginia, and some pick up sticks. Some of these items are destined to be gifts.

Stuff I won in the raffle! We have a huge raffle full of amazing items from many many great vendors. 

I got lucky this year. A Zoom Loom with Woven Turtle Kit, a bump of pencil roving from Noro and a lovely orifice hook.

This is one half of our great room. Several concentric circles of spinners flow in and around each other.

This is the other half of the great room.

My gang. (from left to right) Me, my mom, my sister and my best friend. The gourds are all by my mother. The big dog gourd is a custom order created for one of our fiber friends.

Can't go wrong with having family and friends share in our love of arts and crafts. Thanks to everyone at Studio 49 Retreat for another great year!

Deadlines part 5

Week 5

I finished!

This is the yarn I had left. I used approximately 745 yards total.

Blocking the shawl after washing in the washer on gentle cycle using a net bag to contain it.

What NOT to do when wet finishing a handspun wool project...

1. Don't throw the net bag in the dryer. Even for a short time.

2. Don't forget the net bag is in the dryer.

3. Don't panic and get mad.

4. Don't tug so hard on the slightly felted knit fabric that you actually tear the yarn at the edge.

5. Don't get mad. Did I already say this?

6. Don't put it back in the water to soak in a too small pan so that the ripped yellow yarn that needs repair sits on the blue part and comes out stained - highlighting the rip.

7. Don't be too sad.

With a small invisible-when-worn repair, what was a lovely beautiful shawl is still a lovely beautiful shawl. I do love the color combo.

Deadlines part 4

Week 4
I knit like mad all week, every spare moment. It was taking me 40-45 minutes to complete each row.

I started weighing the ball of yarn every row to maximize usage. Each row used about 4g. I estimated I needed 3 times that for the bind off. Last night I realized I could only work 2 more rows before needing to bind off.

Today, I made it to the bind off!

It's going to take some time for the bind off The pattern called for a regular bind off - knit 2, pull first stitch over the second. I tried it and didn't like the look of it. Instead, I chose the Lacey Bind Off from this website - http://www.stitchdiva.com/tutorials/knitting/stretchy-bind-off-comparison. It's a stretchy bind off that has a really nice finished edge. And worked with some tension on the yarn, the stitches are not too loose.

I'm actually going to finish the shawl in the next couple of days. I will have time to wash and block it before I leave for the retreat next Thursday. So excited!

Deadlines part 3

Knitting like MAD...

Week 1
As soon as the yarn was dry from washing, I wound the yarn into this beautiful ball where you can see the gradation clearly.

I sampled size 4 (3.5mm) and 5 (3.75mm) needles for gauge. I like the way the fabric felt with the size 4 needles.

I started knitting right away. A selfie of me knitting at the Spectrum Center in Irvine, CA while I waited for friends for a lunch date.

Week 2
By the end of the second week I got near the end of the red yarn. I weighed the yarn ball after every row trying to calculate maximum usage but still leave enough for the increase row (which doubles the number of stitches) when I switch to the blue color for the ribbing border.

The tiny scale I use below is battery operated. It's called ProScale555 and can be found on Amazon. Of course. It weighs down to 0.1g. It's a great piece to have in the knitting kit.

Week 3
Got the blue yarn started. I really like the change in color and texture with the ribbing border.

My son asked me how many stitches I had on the needles. So I counted them. Big mistake. Sometimes it's better not to know something. I started with 725 stitches with 2 increases required for each new row. I will count again at the end to complete the torture. It takes me about 30-35 minutes to knit a row. I have 2 weeks still to get this shawl finished. Hmmm...

Deadlines part 2

So I turned the fiber from my post on August 30 Deadlines into these singles. I wanted to control how the colors blended so I spun each color on its own bobbin.

I plied it into a 2-ply DK-like yarn. One ply is Bluefaced Leicester. The 2nd ply is Merino and silk. With 4oz (113g) total, I ended up with 385 yards (352m). This lovely squishy yarn is washed and dry.

With help from some spinning/knitting friends, I chose the TGV (High Speed Knitting) pattern by Susan Ashcroft. It's a crescent shaped shawl with a wide ribbed border. I'm using my handspun yarn for the garter stitch body. The blue yarn is BAAH La Jolla Powder Blue colorway. It has a hand dyed look to it. It will be used in the 2x2 ribbed border. Altogether it made me think of a sunset.

Now I have to turn these pieces into a finished object. By Oct 12th.

High speed knitting...yeah, right!

Instant Photo Studio

Photos support our written stories. I don't have access to a photo studio or a great camera. But I do have a smartphone with a decent camera.

I also have wonderful indirect light that illuminates my balcony in the mornings. And I have a patio table along with the following items -  a roll of white paper, blue tape and one of my son's sticks to use as a weight.

Here is how I set it up. Instant photo studio.

Demoing at the Adobe

I spent a lovely afternoon last weekend spinning at the Diego Sepulveda Adobe in Estancia Park, Costa Mesa, CA. Along with me were fellow guild mate, Robal, and my mother.

Robal wove on her Ashford rigid heddle loom making a gorgeous alpaca/silk blend shawl with pick up detail.

My mother hand-ginned her homegrown wild cotton.

The Costa Mesa Historical Society sponsored an Early California Days event celebrating 50 years of restoration and preservation of the adobe. The adobe museum was beautiful with lots of historical information about California. There was an American Indian dressed in a fur hat and beautifully fringed buckskin tunic and trousers. You can just barely see his backside in the shade of the adobe.

We were situated under a tree and canopy outside. The weather was warm but not too hot and there was a lovely breeze. The event was small but the LA Times Daily Pilot took pictures of us (Find the post dated August 29. Click on the arrow for more pictures).

We got a lot of spinning, weaving, ginning and laughing done.