skarph.com

At long last, I’ve finally ordered my spinning wheel! It’s a Fricke S-160-DT (the DT means double treadle), and it’s expected to be shipped sometime this week! It’s a castle-style wheel, which means the bobbin is on top of the wheel, rather than on the side in traditional Saxony style. This should make it easier for me, a lefty, to use the wheel.

I’m so excited! I ordered it from Spunky Eclectic, and I had her throw in a pound of prepped fiber, as well.

Oh, you want a picture? Well, OK.

Hopefully I’ll be able to take a better photo myself soon!

I stumbled across a couple of knitting/yarn related giveaways this morning, and I wanted to let you know about them!

Domestic Miss is giving away a set of Addi Turbo needles and a set of cupcake buttons! Now, I haven’t used Addi’s, but from what I hear, they’re the gold standard of knitting needles. The buttons are so cute! The deadline: July 31, UK time.

Well I’ll Be A Monkey’s Mama is asking for help choosing a pattern. Help her out and she might choose you to win two skeins of Alpaca Cloud! Yum. Her deadline is August 15.

I said I was test knitting, and I’m done; the pattern is available for purchase.

Here are a couple of my pictures (click on the image to view it larger):

I thought it was a fun pattern to knit, not so hard as to be frustrating, but enough so to keep the knitter interested. She’s got fun ways to customize the pattern too.

My husband reopened his Etsy store this weekend, and it’s stocked anew with an array of his mixed-media sculptures.

His works primarily explore the imagery of prairie thunderstorms.

Affordable art! What could be bad about that?

I’m test knitting a project! I’m having fun trying out a new pattern at the moment. I’ll let you know more about it later, after I’m finished and the pattern is released. It shouldn’t be too long!

I just happened across a lovely fiber artist and his work.

Fiber Berries in Full Sun

A brief snippet from his artist statement: “I use the concept of dance as a metaphor in describing my work. Through the medium of fiber and a wide range of interrelated techniques, I work toward creating dazzling effects of rhythm and movement.”

I think textiles aren’t a main part of enough artistic works. Sure, there’s collage, etc., but that just uses fabric as a material. Rarely is the fiber an intentional part of the art, the focus of art.

Among the few works posted at this gallery’s site, is one Hillestad calls a scarf. It’s lovely, but it’s not my favorite of the works I studied.

I do wish he gave more information about the materials he used; several state only “fiber,” with one stating instead, “textile.” A few say they’re hand knitted with dyes.

All in all, lovely!

I’m participating in a read-a-thon June 28-29, and I decided I’d also donate one of my scarves as a prize.

Made of 100 percent cotton, this scarf is made of yarn recycled (unraveled) from old (but high quality!) sweaters. I love recycling! The main body of the scarf is a creamy off-white color, with neutral taupe ends of asymmetrical length. Each end is offset by a narrow stripe of a simultaneously bright and dark bluish green (It’s really a lovely color.). 5 inches wide and 77 inches long. Another plus: This scarf’s raised ridges at regular intervals, which add visual and textural appeal.

The stitches are a bit loose (but not too loose), which allows the scarf to wrap, roll and/or twist itself up, accommodating your every whim. Want to squish it around your neck? OK. Cinch it upon itself? Check. Twist and drape it lightly? Great! You get the picture. You could also wrap it around your head and ears to keep warm. Why wear a boring, symmetrical scarf when you can jazz it up (in a low-key way, of course!) with a splash of asymmetry?

This Elegant Scarf original comes from a smoke-free, pet-free home.

There’s still time to join the read-a-thon (and have a chance to win this fabulous scarf — check out this FAQ!

I finally ordered (and just received!) my drop spindle. Yay! I also received, as part of that package, a surprise bit of fiber to practice on. Fun!

I plan to have my first practice session tomorrow. I can’t wait! The roving sits there, drawing me in. Keeping me from being able to focus on other tasks.

I’ve wanted to knit for quite a while now. Mom tried to teach me when I was probably about 8 years old, but it didn’t stick, while crocheting did.

I continued on with life, happily crocheting and feeling no need for knitting. But in the past year or so, I’ve seen a few drool-worthy knitting patterns that didn’t readily convert to crochet — lace in particular.

I sat down sometime last year — in the fall if I remember correctly — with a Learn How to book that I’ve had for ages. It took me a bit of effort to attempt to convert the directions from right-handed to left-handed. I hit a few snags, though. Since I’m an accomplished left-handed crocheter, I’m accustomed to tensioning (i.e., holding the yarn) the yarn with my right hand. But the directions in the book for knitting would have had me tensioning with my left hand, and that felt awkward. But I persisted. I decided to try knitting right handed. This was successful, but I didn’t enjoy it. It still felt like I couldn’t really hold all this in my hands at the same time, so I didn’t pick it up again.

Then I joined Ravelry. During my exploring there, I tried to learn the difference between the “throwing” method and the Continental method. At first, I didn’t even know which kind I’d been taught. I searched the forums a few times, but with no further success.

At my local crochet/knitting group recently, I broached the subject with the two attending knitters. I confirmed that I had not learned Continental but that it might be much better for me; I’d be able to hold the yarn in my right hand, and it doesn’t necessitate quite as much movement so perhaps it wouldn’t be as awkward. I also was encouraged to use bamboo needles, rather than metal.

So this afternoon, on a whim, I Googled “how to knit continental,” and a wondrous site popped up.

Written and video instructions of knitting and purling (and more!), left-handed, Continental. Just what I wanted! I dug out my bamboo needles (size 10) and a ball of yarn. I moved the laptop to a more comfortable seat, away from the table.

And, ta-da!

Sure, I know it’s not perfect. But I’m much more likely to attempt another knitting project now, after this tutorial, than I was after my previous attempts.

I plan today to watch (and help!) shear a local couple’s alpacas. I hope to get some fiber out of the deal. That’s about all I know about the situation at this point. Not to worry, I’ll surely post about the adventure after the fact.

Eee!