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.