Despite already being enrolled on several classes (not all yet completed) I'm feeling incredibly tempted this morning - Shawlscapes (Craftsy class) with Stephen West has just gone live!
Although I've already made a Boneyard Shawl (and several others) which is included in the course I am tempted to enroll for Stephen's tips, and of course, his personality - he's definitely one of my favourite designers.
I already gave into the temptation to order an XL Micro Trindlewith the remainder of my birthday money. Have you seen them before? Or tried one? The first time I really became aware of them was on the Yarngasm Video podcast, there is a review from The KnitGirllls here - I really can't wait to try it out - hopefully it won't take too long to arrive.
So what's tempting you these days..... and what have you already succumbed to?
My friend Rachel has a speciality which she calls "all things on the table". In place of any actual cooking, this 'meal' involves covering the table in lots of different foods which one can pick at. When I was thinking about today's WIP Wednesday update, I felt much like Rachel. I have done very little knitting this week and so I've laid out everything so you can see what I've been picking at.
That's Whipporwill malingering at the back. I must get it finished. I'm going to finish it without the eyelets (discussed here), if for no other reason than I want those needles back! Then we have Hitchhiker, now with 28 'points' - leaving this at the side of the sofa might help to get it done, it's such a nice easy pattern but I forget to pick it up. An extra inch or so has been added to the vanilla (handbag project) socks and there are also some more 'multipuffs' on the go. I cast these on in bed which was the worst thing to do because I also started reading and promptly forgot about the knitting.
I lovedLife After Lifeso much, I listened to the audio book when I wasn't able to read it, and never enjoyed the ironing more! The blurb tells you all you need to know: "What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right? During a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath. During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale. What if there were second chances? And third chances? In fact an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you eventually be able to save the world from its own inevitable destiny? And would you even want to?
Life After Life follows Ursula Todd as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. With wit and compassion, Kate Atkinson finds warmth even in life's bleakest moments, and shows an extraordinary ability to evoke the past. Here she is at her most profound and inventive, in a novel that celebrates the best and worst of ourselves."
It's our book club read for this month and I can't wait to see what everyone else thought - I really didn't want it to end. There is so much humour and wonderful observation, not to mention the interesting premise ofeternal return. I'll definitely be reading more Kate Atkinson, although I might try Ann Hood's The Knitting Circle first - I've had that book for ages and have been meaning to read it.
Oh and I did make some more progress on Zuzu's Petals cowl, started my embroidery sampler and managed some more spinning, but more on those another day - this photo is a little out of date after last night's endeavours!
After all that I need a coffee... and then onto some more ironing with Dan Brown's new Inferno via audio book! Have a great Wednesday.
Little Miss* has been "playing at spinning" with a drop spindle over the weekend. When she gets the hang of spinning this long piece of (ready-made) yarn without the leader falling off the hook (she is so frustrated about that) I'll be giving her some roving to try out. And it's not just my daughter who wants to learn - I've already had to give my mum a demo and she is planning to get her own spindle!
I was quite fascinated to read about Abby Franquemont's spinning as a child and how at age 8, after 3 years of practice, she was finally considered 'good enough' although she was well behind her Andean peers who were already spinning fine strong yarn for their family's weaving supplies. In 'Respect the Spindle' she talks about taking her spinning gear everywhere and how playing with friends involved extreme spinning challenges (spinning off the side of a cliff until the spindle dropped etc). In a couple of recent intereviews (details soon) I talked about not remembering how or when I learned to knit - someone must have shown me, but I can't really remember who or when. Perhaps it was osmosis from my knitty mum and nanna!
All this had me thinking about the skills we pass onto our children. Did you learn your craft from an older family member? What skills do you have that you'd like to pass on to your future generations? Have you taught the older generations any new skills? I'd love to know.
----- *I am relieved to see that even she has a double chin in a spinning photo, she took some (blurry) pics of me too, and I thought it was just a(nother) sign of getting older.
It'sFinished Object Friday and my 'FO' this week is a little swatch made from my first handspun.
What a difference a week makes - last weekend I was desperately trying to get to grips with my drop spindle. After regular practice (of between 15 and 30 minutes most days) things are really starting to come together. It's pleasing to have made what feels like considerable progress this week and also to have received many lovely comments and messages from readers and social-media friends who are inspired to give it a try too. It would seem many of you did the same as me and quickly gave up on spinning after a brief unsuccesful attempt. There are really only two things to get to grips with... and I struggled with both of them at first. I hope thes links below will be useful to others beginning on their own journey - they are the videos that really made it 'click' for me.
1. Controlling the Spindle:
Quite simply, I couldn't concentrate on the spindle and fiber at the same time, it was too much to think about and so the 'Park and Draft' technique came into its own. There are lots of videos online and I found some of the old YouTube tutorials from Megan LaCore especially helpful. This one makes it look very simple (and really, it is):
I don't know about mass distribution or rotational dynamics, but I did know that my spindle was wobbling around a lot and affecting my rhythm, in that I didn't have time to get into one before it would stop and change direction. Reading more about it, it seemed the problem was caused by my inexperienced winding of the 'cop' - ie the way the spun fiber was wound around the spindle. The key is to maintain what I can only think of as it's centre of gravity so as to prevent it becoming unbalanced, and this is done by winding the spun yarn close to the whorl, gradually tapering along the shaft.
In 'Respect the Spindle', Abby Franquemont suggests trying out both top- and bottom-whorl spindles and this has proven useful advice. So far I have found a slightly heavier bottom whorl to be a lot easier than the lightweight top-whorl starter spindle I first tried. It spins for longer and feels more controlled. This has been fundamental in moving beyond 'P&D'. (It will be interesting to try a top-whorl spindle again when my technique improves further.)
2. Drafting:
With the 'Park & Draft" technique sussed, I was able to focus exclusively on drafting, and this clear video from A Yarn Loving Mamawas really helpful.
Allowing just a little practice each day, the 'thick and thin' spinning soon started to even out, becoming almost automatic and within a couple of days I was only 'parking' the spindle to join new fiber, and not after every few inches as before. As each day passes, various nuances are becoming clearer - like the way the spun yarn starts to feel different to the finger tips just before the spindle starts to turn back on itself. It's as if all the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together. Definitely worth the effort.
My technique is very far from perfect and must look quite comical - I start off sitting, and then find myself standing with arms outstretched to delay stopping to wind the yarn on. As suspected, spinning is very addictive ("just one more strip of roving") and actually rather meditative.
A few people have asked when I'm going to get a spinning wheel - there is an air of inevitability in the question, as if spindles are merely a stepping stone to 'proper' spinning. The answer is that I might well try a wheel at some point in the future, but right now I am absolutely loving the 'hands on' nature of using a spindle and have no plans to switch.
I hope you all have a lovely weekend. I'll be back next week with more knitting, some stitching and perhaps just a little spinning.
