Unique One Web Site Changes

Exactly one year ago, on April 30, the server that my website was on was shut down (actually it was to be moved to a new server). Very sad. Even sadder was the fact that my shopping cart software, CFWebstore, was based on Cold Fusion, which is no longer supported, so the new server could not run my online shopping. The reason why I had chosen that particular hosting provider was because they could host Cold Fusion.

I figured if I couldn't have my shopping cart software, I might just as well put my website back on the Midcoast Internet Solutions server, since they are more local, and I like to support local business if I can. The move went well, and I had a notice on my website about the server move and the resulting lack of online shopping. I figured I would get the online shopping part back and re-do the website soon. 

Well, it has been a YEAR. Funny how I can't seem to get anything done. But on Monday, before I geeked out on GeekTool, I finally finished adding online shopping to my website, and revamped some of the menu items. So now you don't get a message saying we moved our server on April 30. Yay!

It still isn't done, of course; I have more plans. I need to add the kids' sweaters, and make them available to buy online, and I need to add a couple pages at least stating that we do sell knitting supplies and gifts, although I doubt I will be making any of them available for online shoppers until I get my stock whipped back into shape and have enough money to be able to order things for people if things are out of stock when people place their online orders. That might take more than a year, and that is IF the economy improves at more than a snail's pace. But at least it's a plan.

One thing I planned to do when I was redoing the website was to delete the link to Our Current Newsletter. I used to do a great newsletter every quarter, but then I let it go because it was far too expensive to print and mail, and then I let go of the online version too. Then I deleted the content when the current newsletter was two years old. However, I couldn't make myself delete the link to the newsletter; I want to start doing a quarterly newsletter again, online only. 

One reason the newsletter got to be such a monster was that I felt I needed to have a free pattern, designed by me, in every issue, and you know what? It takes a lot of time to design and KNIT a whole new thing every 3 months. It's crazy. So when I get the newsletter going again, there will not be too many free patterns in it, maybe one a year. MAYBE. Sorry, y'all.... but if you're only here for the free patterns, my condolences. However, I do think newsletter readers might be able to scarf up some coupon codes to use for online shopping to get discounts on things (I will figure something out for my local shoppers to get discounts from the newsletter as well). 

Another thing about the newsletter:  while the last newsletter I wrote was 100% about knitting and not sweaters, this new newsletter will be about the sweaters we sell as well as about knitting, because hey. I gotta sell the sweaters to have money to have the yarn shop. And I make damned nice sweaters here! People should buy them. 

I hope to get the first newsletter up and on the website by July 1. If you want to be emailed when the newsletter comes online again, please email me so I can add your email to my notification list. The email link is in the upper right corner of this 'ere blog  :) 

Change is good.

GeekTool for Mac

On Monday I got a little geeky, and while I had fun geeking out, I didn't get done a lot of stuff I was supposed to do. Like wash the dishes. Or cleaning my knitting machine and knit something on it. 

However, it was nice to rediscover my ability to delve into computer guts with abandon. I discovered a cool little preference pane called GeekTool which allows you to mod your desktop. You can use it to monitor activity on your computer and display that information, like CPU activity and memory usage; you can use it to display the output of shell commands (and even have any of this stuff float on top of all your other app windows, if you want), or display images from any url on the net (think weather maps, here). It is awesome and very fun to play with! I even wrote an applescript that sends the current iTunes song title, artist, and album to my desktop; I set the refresh rate to 3 seconds, so I can start iTunes, close the window entirely, and still keep track of what song is playing. I love it very much! 

Here is a picture of my newly-modded desktop from Monday:

I have chosen to display the time, the date, the day of the week, a month calender, current temperature and weather conditions, and my iTunes current track, if I am playing anything. 

You can choose where to put the information GeekTool displays, and I put it in the upper left corner for now. That way it doesn't interfere with my icons on the right (if I had any; I am quite icons-on-the-desktop phobic, though), and with this particular background image, it sits well in that upper left corner. It is really easy to move things around, however, so when I change my desktop image, I can move things to suit. 

Yes, I am still in love with the Santorini cats. I picked this image not only because I liked it, but also because the cat in the image is a dead ringer for my cat, Grace. Perhaps a thinner and a little scruffier version of Grace, but very like her, nonetheless. See for yourself:

I love my geektool :) and Grace too :) 

Flowers and Socks and Cat, Oh My! and Fashion Show recap

I have this little stone circle planter thing in my yard, and back when I used to be normal I liked to garden and usually planted tulips or daffodils or some other spring bulbs in it in the fall, so that in the spring I could be greeted each morning with pretty flowers to look at as I dashed off to work and as I trudged in after work. It brightened my day. On my days off, I would spend a few leisurely morning moments with a cup of coffee, looking at how beautiful my flowers were. 

Now, however, I never take the time in the fall to plant anything, and I do always regret it in the spring, but then it is too late. However, a few hardy bulbs from years past are still producing spring flowers. This year I at least cleaned out the last 3 years of weeds and dead leaves so the little persistent flowers could get through, and I discovered one crocus:

and these little blue flowers. I do not know what they are. My friend Nancy gave me these bulbs many years ago when she was moving, and said they would come up every spring and spread, and they have indeed. I like them but I don't know what they are called.... I just call them Little Blue Flowers. If you know what they are, please tell me:

     

In knitting progress, I must report another FO! The black socks are done; I finished them last night. I took a picture of them yesterday afternoon just after I had started the toe decreases. When I downloaded my pictures, I found I had another picture of the socks when they were half done, so here are both pictures: 

     

 

While I was taking pictures outside, Nora was helping me. She looks cute, but don't let that fool you. Look at the sharp teeth and claws, and be afraid.

Nora on a stick:

Love that tongue action. 

Nora gnawing:

 

Oh and one more thing.... Susan and I went to the WRFR Fashion Show on Saturday night. It was really fun! The Unique One sweaters looked fabulous :) I also had a little display in the Gallery where the intermission was held: 

We actually got to have the whole table instead of half, so the display looked even better, but I was too forgetful to take a picture of it, and too lazy to go back and take a picture later. But it looked gooooood. The fashion show was very fun and I would love to do it again next year! 

Fashion Show

Last night was the WRFR Fashion Show at the Lincoln Street Center, in Rockland. It was a lot of fun! Susan and I went, and it was quite enjoyable. I must say, I thought the Unique One sweaters came off looking quite fabulous! And there were a lot of other wonderful outfits from local stores as well. I especially loved the night wear from Theo B. Camisole & Company, in Camden, a fellow Bayview Street merchant. Sorry, I didn't get any pictures. You'll have to just trust me that it was great. 

This morning I finished the back of my guernsey and cast on for the ribbing of the front, so I am making progress.Black Sock #2 is nearly down to the heel flap, probably have about 10 or 12 rows to go. 

Still no progress on the Diamond Patch Mittens. I had one little setback (due to sheer stupidity and lack of paying attention) and now I am having a hard time wanting to work on them again. I knit one little diamond in the wrong place around the thumb opening, and it was just stupid that I didn't pay attention. The mistake would be the equivalent of picking up stitches for your second sleeve of a sweater, but picking up the stitches around the neck opening instead of the arm opening, and knitting the whole sleeve before discovering your mistake.  Of course, with the Diamond Patch mitten diamond, the mistake involved far less time and less knitting to fix. I have already undone the mistake and picked up the stitches to reknit it correctly, but I just can't get going on it again. I think I am afraid of making more stupid mistakes. 

I tend to do that sometimes. I make a mistake and put the project away, and I don't know why I do it. I know I can fix the mistakes, I do it for a living. I fix other people's mistakes with their knitting. One example is my black Mystery Stole I started in July 2007, two YEARS ago. I was working on the black one, made some mistake, and just packed both of my Mystery Stoles away in a bin For Good. And the green one didn't even have a mistake yet. And now, the lace shawl is complicated enough that it will be a lot harder to fix it than it would have been if I had done it when I made the mistake, because right then I would have known what I was doing, but now, who knows. My little notes might make sense or they might not. And to make matters worse, I don't remember if I did in fact fix the mistake and then put it away in disgust, or if I didn't fix it. So I don't know when I pull it out again, if it has a mistake to fix or not. What fun :) 

Enjoy the great sunny weather, and keep knitting! 

Flag My Attention

Huh. I was looking out back, over the harbor yesterday, and I noticed two little nautical flags flying over the Harbormaster's office in the public landing:

I highlighted the flags to make them easier to see. 

I wanted to get a closer look, so I zoomed in on them a bit (digital zoom; not such great quality, but you can see stuff closer):

Huh. I wondered what was up. So, I looked up what the flags mean:

International meanings for nautical flags: 
A: Alpha - diver down; keep clear
B: Bravo - carrying dangerous cargo
C: Charlie - yes
D: Delta - keep clear
E: Echo - altering course to starboard
F: Foxtrot - I am disabled
G: Golf - I want a pilot
H: Hotel - a pilot on board
I: India - I am altering course to port
J: Juliet - vessel on fire keep clear
K: Kilo - I want to communicate with you
L: Lima - stop your vessel instantly
M: Mike -my vessel is stopped
N: November - no
O: Oscar - Man overboard
P: Papa - vessel is about to sail
Q: Quebec - I request free pratique
R: Romeo - reverse course
S: Sierra - engines are going astern
T: Tango - keep clear
U: Uniform - you are heading into danger
V: Victor - require assistance
W: Whiskey - require medical assistance
X: X-ray - stop your intention
Y: Yankee - am dragging anchor
Z: Zulu - I require a tug

Far as I can figure out, the flags are "O" and "D", which also mean "Man Overboard", "Keep Clear". So maybe they had a diver down there? Cuz there were no ambulances or Concerned Faces. But, there is a flag for that, "A", "Diver down, keep clear". It's still a mystery. Maybe some alert blog reader can enlighten me. 

But .... then I thought I should knit little nautical flags and adorn hats with them. I could make them removable and interchangeable. I wouldn't mind proclaiming "Keep Clear" or "You Are Heading Into Danger" or "Carrying Dangerous Cargo" or, my current favorite, "I Require a Tug". I could display a different message every day, depending on my mood or situation. And I could keep "Vessel on Fire Keep Clear" handy in my purse, in case of an emergency spontaneous human combustion occurrence. You never know, really, do you?

Gives you something to think about while you knit, anyway.  :) 

The Last Of It

Last night I finished the very last bit of my Walking on the Sun fiber. I loved that fiber and color, it was very fun to spin. Now the last bit is all plied and I can put it away for some future fun project. :) Here is a picture:

I liked using that wooden spindle; I am not sure where or when I got it. I thought it was a Bosworth spindle, but I noticed the hook is different from my other Bosworths, so apparently it isn't. Hummmmm. If anyone out there knows where I got this spindle, please let me know, because I liked it enough to get another one in a different wood. 

Interestingly enough, I dropped the wooden spindle like 10 times while I was spinning this. I got the hook all bent up a couple times and even got the whorl itself a bit off-kilter and had to straighten it. I only dropped my glass spindle twice, I think. Maybe I was just more careful with the glass one, I dunno. This last ounce of the fiber, I just couldn't seem to spin as well, but the resulting yarn is still just as beautiful. 

The picture also shows that I have picked up the gusset stitches on my black sock #1 and am ready to zoom down the foot. 

By the way, the picture on my computer desktop is of a cat lounging on a porch in Santorini island:

I got it from Flickr, I discovered I could download the large file and used it for my desktop. If you want to get this picture too, you can go to this page. 

If you type "Santorini cats" into the search box on Flickr, you will get 1,642 results. I got pretty far into them all, and let me tell you, there are a LOT of cats on Santorini. 

I should send Nora there. 

Silly Cats

Two things:

1. There is a whole Silly Cats group over on Flickr. Go check it out :)

2. My love for cats stuff and hemp stuff is united! There is a company called Silly Kitty that makes hemp cat  toys filled with organic catnip, and also hemp breakaway collars for cats. (Don't worry, dog lovers, they make Hemp for Hounds stuff too!) 

Knit, Spin, Knit....

Today I finished spinning the absolute last ounce of my Walking on the Sun fiber. Now I just have to ply it and set the twist and put the yarn away for some as yet unknown future project. 

I am nearly done the back on my guernsey :) And the black socks are almost to the heel flap on sock #1. Making progress, slowly but surely. 

And I did about 3 or maybe even 4 weeks of laundry. Amazing how fast it piles up!

(yeah, still no progress on the Diamond Patch mittens) 

(I am not guilty about it yet, though)

A Little More Progress

Today I had a great time teaching Portuguese knitting to a group of lovely ladies :)) Now I hope they go back to their knitting groups and knitting friends and teach them how to knit Portuguese style, too. 

I have about 4 more inches to knit on my sweater, and the back of my Michael's Guernsey will be done. Knitting the yoke (several fun knit & purl designs and a mock cable)  is definitely more fun than knitting the lower body (ribbing of knit 4, purl 2 for sixteen interminable inches). Sorry, no picture of the sweater progress yet. 

I have only about 1/3rd of an ounce left to spin on my remaining Walking on the Sun fiber, and then I can start another Spa Project. I have to decide what to do next, though. I could make worsted weight socks, fingering weight socks, worsted weight mittens, a cashmere scarf, a lace shawl, or spin another bunch of fiber and knit more socks with it. I really can't decide. I am looking forward to spinning the three batches of fiber I have left; I am toying with some ideas for the lace weight yarn; I know it might be cool to blow through a couple quick worsted weight projects; and geez, who doesn't like to knit with fabulous 100% cashmere?  so I can't decide. Luckily I have a little more of the Sun fiber to finish spinning. I will decide when I have to. I welcome suggestions :) 

I am knitting along merrily on my basic black socks. Here is progress so far:

 

I am ignoring my complete lack of progress on my Diamond Patch mittens. Oh well. 

Somebody's Been Stepping on My Car ...

.... and I think his name is Nicky. 

They're Done!

My sun socks, that is..... I finally finished them yesterday! I am thrilled with them. I estimate it took me about 40 to 45 hours to spin the yarn on a spindle and knit the socks. Not as much time as I thought! I am finishing spinning the last ounce of the Walking on the Sun fiber that is left over from the socks, about 1 ounce of fiber. Dunno what I will do with only 1 ounce of handspun fingering weight yarn, but I will think of something... probably put it together with other leftovers that I accumulate as I go along. Next on the docket is more Spunky Eclectic fiber, BFL in a color called Galaxy. It should be fun to spin!

 

Knitting Is Good For You

Alert Demonic Progress reader Sue sent me a link to in interesting clip from the CBS Early Show extolling the benefits of knitting for your health. I had heard a lot of the information before, like how knitting lowers your blood pressure and is a good stress reliever. But, I didn't know that it inhibits memory loss and also strengthens your immune system! Very cool :) 

So hey, how about we march on Washington and demand that our knitting supplies be covered by health insurance? Or at the very least, we shouldn't pay tax on knitting stuff. Right? Right? 

Here is  the link to the video clip:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4917058n

Maria D'Antuono is my hero!

Ya gotta love it. And you know full well, this is what you or I would do.... so always always ALWAYS keep a week's supply of knitting near your bed! Or possibly IN your bed! At all times! 

From the Guardian:

"Whatever faults Maria D'Antuono may have, wasting time is not among them.
The 98-year-old villager, from Tempera, near L'Aquila, yesterday became one of the latest survivors to be dragged from the rubble left by Monday's devastating earthquake in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. For 30 interminable hours, she lay below the ruins of her house, a few miles from the epicentre.
So what did she do to while away the time, not knowing whether she would live or die as rescue workers dug towards her? The answer, it seems, was "crochet".
According to the Ansa news agency, D'Antuono was pulled from the rubble to cheers from the crowd and briefly answered questions from a reporter for Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset television network before she was taken to hospital. Asked how she had passed the time since her house had collapsed on her, she reportedly said she had been busy with her hook and wool."

You can read the full story on the Guardian website HERE.

.... and of course, you know, lots of the news media got it wrong. They said she was knitting. 

*sigh*

It Makes Me Smile:

Spring

Here's a little video I took with my camera on April 4. It shows the waterfall emptying into Camden Harbor, and there is a lot of melted Megunticook Lake in that baby, lemme tell ya. 

Link to the video here.

Huh

I noticed yesterday that I have published 426 posts in about 1925 days.  (I started this blog in January, 2004.)

That is about one post every 4.5 days. Cool :) So despite all my long periods of silence, I guess I am not doing so bad after all, heh heh. 

Okay, so back to my knittinggggggg.........

A little behind on the plan...

I got the fiber for my second Sun Sock all spun and plied and set the twist... but the socks won't be done by tomorrow. It is taking my little skein all day to dry, for some reason. I think it's because before, we had the woodstove going and the yarn could dry pretty fast hung nearby, but now the woodstove is cold and it takes a bit longer to dry my yarn. I must say, it is fun fondling it to see if the yarn is dry yet, it feels wonderful in the skein. The finished socks don't feel quite as soft, they actually feel a little "crunchy", but that's par for the course for bamboo, I think. 

I only worked a little on my Diamond Patch Mitten, and I did that WRONG, so I had to unravel a little diamond and reknit it. I only got as far as the second row on the re-knit.  

I can't seem to get my 16" of knitting done on the back of my guernsey, how will I ever knit the whole sweater!!!!! I knit and knit and knit and it just seems to get farther away. 

I started a pair of black socks the other day, just to have an easy take-along, fill-in project on the go. Just plain black socks, they will be fun :) 

So according to my plan, I have 4 projects on the go: a SPA project (sun socks): a UFO project (diamond patch mitten, started months ago and truly an Un-Finished Object); a sweater project (the guernsey); and I added one more category, a simple project that I can call a Grab 'n Go project, for easy, mindless, easy to carry along knitting. 

I'd really like to work my way through some of my unfinished projects and things lined up for completion in my various bins and baskets and bags. So for quite a while, years perhaps, my UFO project and my sweater project might BOTH be UFO's from the dark bins.... I think the last time I actually tried to count sweater projects only -- and counting sweaters actually started on the needles, not sweaters still lying in piles of unwound skeins with a pattern tucked in with them -- I had around 14 of them. That's kind of a lot, huh. Guess I better do something about that. 

Well, at least I take comfort in knowing that lots of readers read my blog and look on disbelievingly at my out of control number of started projects, and they can see that no matter how bad they think their project problems are, mine are waayyyyyy worse. And if they are not, just let me know, and I can start a few more projects for you. 

Not Much Progress

Hiya :)

I haven't blogged for a few days, mostly because I didn't have much progress to show or talk about. And I was tired. 

So, since Monday, I have been spinning more fiber for my Sun socks. If all goes as predicted, I will easily be done spindling the 1st ounce of my Sock #2 fiber, so on Sunday and Monday I should be able to ply it and knit it up. I *think* it will actually finish the sock. If it doesn't finish the sock, it will be darn close. So I ought to be able to wear my hand-spindled Sun socks on Tuesday! It seems too unbelievable to think I will actually have a pair of handknit socks made with handspindled yarn, by Tuesday. You can't imagine what a milestone this is for me. 

I think I will have one ounce or possibly a teeny bit less (if I have to spin a little more yarn to finish the sock) of the Walking on the Sun bamboo/merino/nylon fiber  left from my sock project. I will spin the rest of the fiber and store it away as yarn, not fiber. If I do that with all my leftover handspun sock yarn, eventually I will have enough leftover handspun sock yarn to make a Something that will be wonderful. 

I have been working on my "Michael's Guernsey", using the Portuguese knitting technique. I have to do the 4 x 1 rib for 16" and then do something else, a yoke pattern I think. I have about 11 or 12" done, so I only have a few more inches of rib to get to the yoke on the back. I would like to have the whole back of the sweater done by next weekend, the 19th. 

And lastly, I am working on a pair of modular mittens, using Classic Elite's Alpaca Sox yarn. I love the yarn :)) so soft and yummy! I bought the pattern online; it is the Heartland Knits Diamond Patch Mittens. They are fun to knit so far, but man, there are two ends to weave in for each little square. They actually go pretty fast, but I haven't put a lot of time into them. They will become more of a priority after my Sun socks are done. Here is a picture from the pattern (I haven't taken a photo of my partly-done mitten yet):

After the sun socks, my next spindling will be the BFL fiber I got at the Spa, also from the Spunky Eclectic booth. I plan to always have one Spa project, one abandoned UFO project from one of my Rubbermaid bins, and one sweater project always on the go, until I start to get caught up. Yes, that might take years. I am guessing about seven years, actually, if I work steadily. Wish me luck :) 

New Socks and Spinning Progress

Remember this spindle full of yarn? 

I was actually a little worried that I wouldn't be able to finish the Sock #1 of my Sun socks. Here is what they looked like the last time you saw them: 

I shouldn't have worried. Here is how I got with that spindle full of yarn:

So now I am thinking it probably only takes about 3 ounces to spin and knit a pair of socks. Not bad :) I have to spin one more spindle full and that actually *might* finish the socks! 

And in other news, I finished my Route 66 socks. I will wear them tomorrow:

Keep knitting, everyone :) 

Save the Date!

There's a fashion show! April 25th at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Street Center in Rockland, Maine! 

You gotta come. It is the WRFR Fashion Show, featuring garments modeled by a selection of lots of local businesses, including Unique One! I am showing several sweaters in the show, including sweaters for the whole family  :) It is my first fashion show ever and I am pretty excited! Y'all come, now. There will be a silent auction, too. Tickets are $5.00 in advance (you can buy tickets from Unique One) or $8 at the door. Proceeds benefit Rockland’s non-profit radio station, WRFR. 

Tickets are also available at the Grasshopper Shop, 412, Caravans, Ravishing Recalls, Leonard’s, and Theo B. Camisoles. 

WRFR has done a great job pulling this together, and I think it is a wonderful idea to have a fashion show featuring local businesses. 

WRFR, by the way, is a great radio station. WRFR-LP is a community based, volunteer powered, commercial free radio station fostering cultural enrichment and civic development through access to the airwaves, thoughtful programming and forums for expression and connection.  The LP stands for low power. WRFR broadcasts at just 100 watts, compared to the 10,000 watts and more that high-power stations radiate.

So, if you want to listen to WRFR on the radio, you have to be really near Rockland or Camden. BUT! If you want to listen to Camden/Rockland's radio and you live far away in, say, Nebraska, you can listen to WRFR anywhere that you can get an internet connection. Just go to the WRFR website and click "Listen Online!" in the top right corner. If you love the station, make sure you send them a contribution, if you can. Every little bit helps! 

Daily Dose of Knitted Oddity

In the interest of a quick blog post, here are some of the weirder knitting things I have run across in my surfing lately: 

1. Knit a Digestive System, starting with the anus. 

2. Knitted Poop. (Well, it does kind of go with #1. Although I made it, appropriately, #2.)

3. Knitted News that you can wear. 

4. Dr. Who Fan in Knitted Puppet Row (who can resist a headline like that??)

and not knitting related but.....

5. Kittenwar! May the cutest kitten win!

Yes I am pathetic. But I did knit today :) 

You keep knitting too, so you can avoid pathetically crawling the internet for knitting stuff like me!

More Progress

Yesterday I did, in fact, weave in the ends and embroider the birdies on the thumbs of my Bird in Hand mittens, so they are really truly finished. That is good :) 

I set the twist on my Walking on the Sun socks yesterday, so today I wound it into a ball and resumed knitting my first hand-spindled sock. I have turned the heel, picked up the stitches on the gusset and am now moving down the foot, decreasing the gusset stitches as I go. Since I am using handspun yarn, I can't count the rows and mark them with pins, because the yarn is not as consistent as commercial yarn is. So, I have to measure constantly. :/ 

But it is so wonderful to be knitting with my own hand-spindled yarn, and it gives me such a feeling of accomplishment! I love how it looks and feels, too.  Here is a picture of the yarn before I wound it into a ball: 

I started my Route 66 socks from the last of my Spunky Eclectic sock yarn, and I am working on the foot of the first sock. I only did a six inch top instead of my usual eight inch top, because I wasn't entirely sure I have enough yarn to do a pair of socks with eight inch tops. I probably do, but since I have never used this yarn before, I figured I would play it safe, especially since I am using a smaller-ish size needle with the sport weight yarn (I am using a size 3 needle) and it might eat up more yarn because of that. I love everything about these socks: they are so soft and yummy feeling, the color is fabulous, and because of the thicker yarn and shorter top, I will be able to knit them in almost no time! I love dem :) Picture of my progress so far:

Now I am going off to knit on my Sun socks :) This is fun :) 

Another FO and Some Thoughts on Spindle Capacity

Yayyy! I finished my Bird in Hand mittens! Well, mostly. I still have to weave in the ends and embroider all the pertinent bird features, but I *promise* I will do  that right after I post this. Here are pics: 

  << back of hand 

   << palms

Now some thoughts on spindle capacity. 

As you know, I am a little geeky when it comes to my knitting. I like the facts and figures. I count and keep track of how many rows I knit in the legs and the feet of my socks. So you can imagine how it has always made me ever so slightly squeamish when I ask someone, "How do you know when the spindle is full?" and the answer is, "You just know it's full when the spindle doesn't spin right anymore." 

Yah. That's like saying "add flour and keep stirring until it looks right." When I run across this in a recipe, it means that my cheese sauce can be anything from soup to wallpaper paste .... with about the same difference in taste. 

I don't do well with "until it looks/smells/feels/sounds right". I need specific measurements. Not that I necessarily FOLLOW the specific measurements, but I like to know what they are so when I screw around with something, I know what my paramaters are.

And when it comes to spinning, well.... let's just say that there are some areas of spinning that I am a little more handicapped in than others. Particularly, regarding the state of fullness of any kind of bobbin. There are some of you out there (Hi Sharon!) who have actually witnessed one of several times when I have spun a bobbin so full on my wheel that the bobbin literally burst because it was too full. 

As I was spinning my glass spindle full of Walking in the Sun merino/bamboo/nylon fiber, I was wondering how full I really could spin my lovely glass spindle. The thing is, if I knew beforehand, I could prepare ahead of time. See, if I were spinning for socks, as I usually am, I could split the roving in half and put it in  ziploc bags labeled "Sock #1" and "Sock #2" (which I have done). But then I could take the fiber for each sock and split it into one-spindle-full sections and then happily spin along til I ran out, and know it was time to ply, without having to keep stopping and looking and watching and worrying if it was to the point where it "doesn't spin right', whatever that is. 

So what I did this last spindleful was, I spun until it was really heavy, although as far as I could see it spun right. Then I plied the single back on itself and got a lovely spindle full of yarn. Then I weighed it, spindle and yarn and all: 

 The scale says 2.5 ounces. 

Then I took the yarn off and weighed the empty spindle:

 The scale says 1.3 ounces. 

My scale is not that accurate, it only has one place after the decimal point. I happen to know that my spindle was labeled 1.25 ounces when I got it, so the scale rounded it off to 1.3. That means my yarn + spindle could be either 2.5 or 2.45 ounces. I'm going with 2.5 :) 

Simple subtraction shows that I have spun an amount of fiber equal to the weight of the spindle, 1.25 ounces. Therefore, I know now that with this particular fiber, the spindle is full when the amount of fiber equals the weight of the spindle. That way I can weigh out 1.25 ounces of fiber at a time, spin it without having to think about if it is still "spinning right", and be happy. 

It will be interesting, after I finish spinning this project, and start spinning the lovely BFL fiber I got from Spunky Eclectic at the SPA, if 1.25 ounces of fiber will always be what makes a full spindle, or if it will be less because of the fiber being less dense. 

Or maybe everyone out there who spindle spins just KNOWS that the amount of fiber that fills a spindle is equal to the weight of the spindle. I never learned that :) This way I get to think I am a genius. 

Beth's Knitting Progress

I figured I should update you as to what knitting progress I made over the knitting weekend, because despite the fact that we had a lot of fun chatting and snacking, I did actually get a lot of knitting done! 

I started my Bird in Hand mittens on Christmas Day. and in pretty short time I finished the first mitten! That was good. But then, I couldn't seem to make myself start the second mitten. One of my goals over the knitting weekend was to start the second mitten, which I did! Here is how far I got as of Monday afternoon:

I also did more spinning on my Walking on the Sun fiber for socks:

I finished my lobster socks on Monday afternoon:

I also knit a couple inches on my gansey, which I started to practice my Portuguese knitting skills in preparation for the Portuguese knitting class on April 19: 

That's pretty much it. I also have a scarf and another pair of mittens in the works, old projects that I discovered in my knitting bag when I cleaned it out for the knitting weekend. I hope to finish the Bird in Hand mittens within a few days and maybe the scarf (which I will talk about later) and then I get to start a couple NEW projects!! I am more than ready to begin the Selbu Modern hat, and I want to knit the last of my Spunky Eclectic sock yarn that I got at the Spa in February, the sport weight "Route 66" yarn. Sport weight socks should go pretty fast!

Hmm... I just looked at my progress in projects on my Ravelry projects list. I have only finished 5 projects this year so far. That is less than 2 projects per month. I need to do better than that, for heaven's sake. I really ought to finish something every week, shouldn't I? Sheesh. I better get off my butt. 

Knit knit knit!