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!

Deadlines

I try hard to spin without a deadline. However, imagine this scenario...

I get a bag of fiber at a retreat and am supposed to bring it back the following year as a finished item. I intend to start spinning right away so I have plenty of time to plan a complicated and detailed project.

But then, I wait to start the spinning... like TEN months later. Suddenly there is a two month deadline looming ahead. I now have to focus on spinning quickly without too much forethought about what kind of yarn I want to create. Then I have to pick a project that I can knit in a month.

I am a slow knitter.

Why do I do this to myself? Well, of course, sometimes life happens and spinning gets sidelined for a time. Or I just don't feel like spinning that fiber yet. Or I'm somehow deluded into the idea that I'm going to think my way into the perfect yarn and project.

The fiber is from the 2015 Studio 49 Retreat. This 10 year anniversary themed fiber was prepared and dyed by Dreamy Goat Designs. Above is 2oz/56g of Bluefaced Leicester (BFL). Below is 2oz/56g of Merino/Bombyx Silk blend. Both dyed in the same tri-color way. Some folks chose the same fiber for their projects. I got one bag of each. It will be fun to see what we all come up with. The next retreat is Oct 14, 2016.

So... right now, I spin with a deadline looming.

Plying

I finished the Tour de Fleece single ply yarn the week after the race ended. I got around to plying it a week later into 386 yards of 3 ply yarn. What I didn't like was that the yarn was not plied with the same amount of twist as the first skein I finished in June. So I decided to add more twist by running it through the wheel again. I put the skein on the swift attached to a dining chair seat. It took a little longer than I thought, but Season 10 of Food Network Star kept me entertained. I just love the ability to binge watch shows on streaming television.

 

I ended up with 7 yards less but with the same twist as the first skein. With the two skeins I now have a total of 757yds/692m to play with. I wrapped the yarn with the original fiber label and wrote my yardage notes on it. The colors blended more than I had originally intended. I still like the finished yarn a lot. The fuchsia dominates the yarn. Which is nice, but I have lots of yarn in this colorway. Of course I do. It's in the red family and that's my favorite color!

I had some singles yarn left over on 2 bobbins. So I decided to ply that using Navajo chain ply method. It's a tiny skein but the colors came out more like what I had originally imagined this fiber to look like.

Since I was on a twist fixing mode, I dug out another skein of yarn that had been bugging me for a while.

This skein of 3 ply yarn was spun by a friend of mine. I love the subdued colors (it's not red!) but I always thought the ply twist was a little loosey goosey.

Since I had the swift set up already I put the skein on it and ran the yarn through the wheel again. I lost 4 yards in the new twist but now the skein looks great. Even the colors look a little more defined to me and I was dreaming of other yarns I could combined it with to knit up something fabulous.

Tour de Fleece Finale

Day 21, July 22:  Got in just 15 minutes today.

Day 22, July 23:  Does touching the wheel count? I didn't spin but I put my feet on the treadles for a second. I was up super early to host a garage sale for my mother-in-law then took Ian to a school friends birthday pool party. Just ran out of energy.

Day 23, July 24: Spun yarn for 15 minutes. Spent most of the day rearranging/cleaning my son's bedroom to accommodate a new-to-him dresser. The dresser started as avocado green. Ian designed the paint work and we did it together over the last couple of months. Finally finished this week. It is supposed to look like an online computer game called diep.io. It turned out way cooler than I thought it would.

Tour de Fleece Final Report:  I didn't wear a yellow jersey but I feel like a winner anyway. I spun most days and really got in a lot of time the first two weeks. Then mother-in-law happened and spinning slowed way down. But it got me to blog again after a 2 year pause. So I'm happy.

Tour de Fleece part 4

Day 14, July 15th:  Was a rough day. Both time and energy. Let's see. Started the day getting a filling and the start of a new crown - 2 hours in the dentist chair. Spent an hour and a half with the move in specialist for an assisted living facility regarding my mother in law. Ate lunch somewhere in there. Spent another 2 hours filling out paperwork with mother in law. Then took her to the doctors office for a TB test and more paperwork. Then home for half an hour to eat an avocado before going to a baby shower with my knitting group. I think it's OK that I didn't spin today.

Day 15, July 16th:  Spun for 2 hours today. Finished one bobbin.

Day 16, July 17th:  Spun for 2.5 hours today. We also had Dragon boat practice. The Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival is coming up end of July and Ian is paddling on the elementary boat.

Day 17, July 18th: Spun for 30 seconds.

Day 18, July 19th: Spun for 1.5 hours. It's technically rest day for the Tour, however, my spinning time was dismal yesterday I thought I'd make up some.

Day 19, July 20th: Finished 2nd bobbin. Started last 16g/.5oz of fiber on final bobbin. Not sure I will ply before the tour ends as I want to let the singles rest for a few days. Of course I may not finish this fiber before the end of the Tour.

Day 20, July 21st:  Spun for 1 hour today.

Tour de Fleece Continued

Day 2, July 3rd:  I was able to spin yarn for 2 hours today. I'm using my Ashford Joy wheel. Working on a 3 ply yarn using 3 bobbins. I have split the roving into thirds lengthwise and I finished the first third of the fiber on bobbin #1.

Day 3, July 4th:  I spun for 2.5 hours today. Cupcake Wars is a fun accompaniment to my spinning.

Day 4, July 5th:  I spun for another 2.5 hours today. Finished the first half of bobbin #2.

Day 5, July 6th:  I spun for 3 hours today. Working on bobbin #3. Accompanied by Cupcake Wars, Grey's Anatomy and Ian playing Minecraft. A very productive day.

Day 6, July 7th: Got in only 45 minutes of spinning today. Still working on bobbin #3.