Wednesday, November 02, 2011




What a Fall!



Excuse me, I fell down the high school marching band rabbit hole. With the Boy having 2 hour rehearsals three times a week, plus a football game on Fridays and competitions on Saturday (his marching band earned 4 "Grand Champion" awards this year and a superior rating at the state competition), I've been a bit busy. Thank John Phillip Sousa it's over until next year.



All that time sitting in the car waiting for practice to be over, or waiting for the buses to get back to school (after they broke down one hour away from their destination) has yielded some knitting. I am about 50% done with Thing 2's Harry Potter sweater. This is the one I started last winter and had to rip, because he grew. It's not very exciting to look at, thus no picture.



I also have a pair of socks going that I just leave in the car, so I am never without knitting if I suddenly find myself waiting. It's just a plain old vanilla sock pattern which is good for throwing on a few rounds if the wait is short.

Pardon the crappy photo, it was taken with my phone. I'm much further along now. There has been much waiting. I'm using Opal Rainforest in tiger, knit on a 9" circular needle. The wee little needle is fun. I had tried it out before, but didn't like it. I was strictly a dpn sock knitter. I think I didn't like it because I knit with the yarn held in my right hand.

After I learned to knit Portuguese style, it was easier to use this needle. I don't think I'll completely give up knitting socks with dpns, but this is a fun change.

I've also been washing, carding, and spinning an alpaca fleece I've had for a year. This is my first attempt at spinning from fleece to yarn. It's amazing how easy it is. I had always been in awe when I would read about the process on other blogs. Don't let them fool you.

Washing the fleece is no more than picking out the ick, and putting bits of it in the sink with soap or a scouring agent to soak, rinse, and repeat (if necessary). After it's dry, it can be carded while watching television. It's the equivalent of doing garter stitch without looking.

The part that takes the most concentration is the spinning. To me, this is the most fun part and I wouldn't want to miss it by dividing my attention between spinning and something else.

Although I do love seeing the Boy occasionally walk past my shoe box full of clean fiber, stopping to stick his hands in it, and hearing him say, "mmm, alpaca". There's hope yet for that Boy.

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