yarny goodness
April 25, 2011
as promised,
i’m gonna get this blog back on track,
and give everyone some yarny goodness to peep.
though i don’t have a wheel of my own,
when i was working at natural stitches,
i could use a shop wheel.
in between helping the fine customers,
i worked on my first ever 3-ply yarn.
once i got all the singles spun,
i plied like the wind!
of course yarn isn’t done once it’s plied.
there’s always something more to do, right?
like the brutal weaving in of the ends after endless knitting.
personally, i follow judith mackenzie’s directions for finishing yarn from her amazing book the intentional spinner: a holistic approach to making yarn (every knitter should own it. even if you don’t spin, it’ll change how you knit. go on. buy it.)
first, you count your strands to calculate yardage.
doesn’t do us much good if we don’t know how much yarn we’ve spun, right?
then we “full” it a little by swishing it in hot soapy water.
(in the book, judith is shown using a small plunger and is really going at it. this scares me. i choose to “sauté” my yarn.
then we rinse/swish it in cold clean water.
(remember to scoot your roommate’s papers out of the way, and put down a towel. never incur the roomie wrath during finals)
then i squeeze out the excess water in my own way.
i start at the top, and sort of pinch and roll with my hand.
it’s kinda like milking a cow (look it up).
then the fun part: the thwacking!
i beat the shit out of my yarn against the side of the tub.
(if only you knew how hard it was to get this shot)
after it hangs up for a while to dry,
poof!
yarn is born. (these were the first two skeins)
if i’ve done my math right,
i’ve got roughly 466 yds of a dk/worsted yarn.
not too shabby if i do say so myself.
and just to spice things up,
how about i give the yarn away?
here’s the rules; it’s a little complicated.
if you want the yarn,
you must get one of your knitter friends to leave a comment for you.
then, i’ll pick someone at random (it’s only fair).
are we clear?
you can’t comment for yourself.
your friend must comment for you.
just promise me, please,
if you win, you’ll actually make something with it!
who wants it!?
and the winner is . . .
April 11, 2010
i couldn’t believe how many people entered the girasole contest.
i had to honor that by making a bit of a to do about it.
and in order to be fair,
i had to have someone impartial pick the number
this is my roomie, veronica
she graciously agreed not to enter so she could pick the number.
(and wear an evening gown and pumps)
we had quite a photo shoot for this one
(we were cracking up the whole time)
but you don’t really care about that, do you?
you want to know who won, right?
well, we have a winner
#18
congratulations shara!
her comment was hilarious too:
*flail*
i totally want that, i’ll trade you a kidney for it….or part of my liver, if you’re not too particular.
that won’t be necessary.
mine work just fine.
and thanks again to everyone who played.
i’m sure i’ll make something else one day that i’ll need to give away.
xoxo bitches!
the best laid plans.
April 4, 2010
i have some good news, some not so good news, and some pretty interesting news.
the good news – i finished the girasole
the not so good news – it’s not as big as i wanted it to be
it’s measuring out to be about 4 feet across.
i’m guessing that i can block it out to about 5 feet.
i wanted it to be at least 6 feet in diameter.
though i’d really love to blame the pattern or the designer, this one was all me. when i started, i knew i wanted to make the blanket, not the shawl. the pattern calls for a aran weight. i subbed in a worsted. the pattern called for a 10.5 but that was WAY to big for the yarn i had chosen.
so i used a 9.
plus, i’m a tight knitter.
this failure is all my own.
(but the fact that you have to fudge the last stitch in the edging is jared flood’s. take that!)
i recognize that it’s beautiful and i put a ton of hard work into this project. but the fact is, it’s like making a sweater that doesn’t fit. you gotta give it to someone it does.
which brings me to my pretty interesting news.
i’m giving it away to you!
that’s right, you can win my girasole.
(totally inspired by the yarn harlot’s most recent giveaway post)
the rules of the first bitches.get.stitches giveaway:
- leave a comment
- your comment = your number
- i’ll have an impartial person draw a random number and that person will get the girasole!
we’re on the honor system here people.
i can’t stop you from making a bunch of fake emails and pseudonyms and commenting like crazy. but i trust you bitches.
i’m having some friends/coworkers over on wendnesday to block this bitch. there will be feasting, conviviality, and perhaps a soupçon of debauchery.
and maybe some pinning. maybe.
the drawing will be sunday sunday sunday
(april 11, 2010)
so bitches,
who wants it?
edit: thanks for playing everyone, but we have a winner!
Bitches Get Stitches 