Month: July 2012 (Page 2 of 2)

It was a perfect day to go to the zoo.  Cool, cloudy, and not too crowded.  We had a great time with the new elephant exhibit.

He thought the gibbons swinging around were the best.  Penguins were a close second place.

My folks are visiting! We are enjoying a very NIJ dinner (not in Junction) at Euclid Hall.

My proudest moment this week: Jack ate all his dinner tray. 4 squares, 4 food groups: string cheese, two servings of ham, three servings of strawberries, and three servings of sweet potato. I'm so happy he ate some protein and vegetable!

Ben and I couldn’t remember what we did for the fourth last year.  Apparently this.  So that we capture memories, as much as they are, I’ll post about today.

After an unrestful night of tossing and turning in bed I got up at 5 to go to work.  I had one patient in the main room, where I simultaneously did all the machine and equipment maintenance.  Then they added a second patient for me, this one in the ICU.  Before that I had a nice, relaxed lunch (salad with ham and boiled egg) and talked to Ben, who had Jack at the Tilly’s house for a little party.  I’m told Jack ate 6 watermelon slices, three brownies, and handfuls of goldfish crackers.  He’s been losing weight from this cold so frankly I’m thrilled about all that food!  He and Wolfie also had fun throwing poppers and splashing in a puddle.

I left work around 6:45, just shy of a 13 hour day.  It’s nice to get 50% extra pay for working today.  This was my drive home on the bottom of C-470 facing west. 

Hey, where are the mountains?  

Rounding the loop just past Kipling, even up close I could barely see the foothills.   It’s been hazy all week because of the fires here.  But today was the worst by far.  Ironically, I hear it’s from winds bringing the smoke to Denver from a fire in Laramie. 

At home I played in the basement with the guys.  Ben is proud that Jack can play video games at a younger age than he did himself.  When I got home Jack had just cleared the second level of Angry Birds on his own, earning three stars.  He tried Fruit Ninja next.  We’ve been trying to teach him that not all video games, and not all consoles, work by flapping your arms. 

Fireworks are pretty much banned across the state because of the wildfires.  There are a couple displays, but I’m sure they are packed to the gills with people because of how few there will be.  We were never big fans of fireworks because 1) they are late at night.  Unless the 5th is a non-work day we’d rather sleep, and 2) crowds. But I kept Jack up a little past bedtime to watch the Capitol fireworks in DC.  His response was very meh.  Instead he licked his dinosaur like an ice cream cone, sending Ben into fits of giggles.  This went on for a while. 

And that was our Independence Day!

How to Make Yarn 

This is an overview of the process of making yarn.   It’s intended to show the whole journey that fiber takes over various devices and stages.   It’s not a detailed description of technique.

I learned to spin on a drop spindle in a class. Later I was generously given a spinning wheel, which I learned to use with trial and error, entirely self taught.  I’m so happy with how this project turned out.  I took nice pictures along the way to share my love of this old fashioned craft. 

 Start with roving.

(This isn’t even the beginning.  Shearing sheep is the beginning.  I’m skipping that step, along with cleaning, scouring, combing, blending, and dying the wool.)

This is a blend of merino wool and other fibers (I lost the tag.  Silk? Alpaca?  I’m not sure, but it’s lusciously soft).  This came from an etsy seller.  Browsing for roving on etsy is one of my favorite things to do on the internet.

Roving is combed fibers that are ready to spin.  Pick an end, split into smaller strips if you prefer (I left it fat, making for longer color changes).  Start spinning. 

And keep spinning for hours.

 Marvel at the gorgeous colors. 

Marvel at how thinly you can spin after the hours of practice you have put in. 

Hopefully you already decided whether to make single or double ply yarn.  If it will be double ply, then hopefully you put some extra twist in the fiber.  That way you can twist two strands together in the opposite direction, and hopefully achieve a balanced yarn.  That’s a lot of hope.  In other words, plan ahead or you’ll be frustrated.

This is where my wheel comes in handy.  It has a built in “kate,” the diagonal rack holding my bobbins.  I can easily pull the yarn off those bobbins while plying it onto the center bobbin which is being spun by the wheel.

I don’t think I’m very good at plying.  I’ve read some techniques, but my fingers just don’t do it well.  Perhaps an intermediate level spinning class would help me figure out what I’m doing wrong.  Perhaps I just need to do it slower with more patience.  Plying is not my favorite part of the process. 

Single spun yarn on the right bobbin, plyed yarn on the left bobbin. 

Take the double ply yarn off the bobbin by winding it onto a “niddy noddy.” This is a wooden stick with two perpendicular rods at the ends that you wind yarn around.  You can also use a chair’s back, but the niddy noddy is more compact and even.

Look how balanced my yarn is!  It lays loosely on my lap like string.  It’s thrilling to get such plain, string-like results!

I had a single bobbin leftover.  I heard that you can ply onto itself using a center-pull ball.  So I wound it on a niddy noddy and then made a ball.

I love these even, green strings.   They are fun to thrum.  (Poor Ben had to endure me saying “Look! Look!” several times.  You know you married right when he unwavering applauds your string making.)

I didn’t like how that skein turned out (it’s the greener one you will see later) because the colors overlapped more and the twist didn’t stay very well.  However, doing it shows the amount of twist I was talking about earlier.

Over-twisted single ply:

Now evened out by re-twisting in a double ply:

After coiling on the niddy noddy you can twist the hank onto itself.  These knotted hanks are how yarn is often sold in stores. 

But I hadn’t “set the twist” yet.  The yarn gets a quick soak in warm water.  I added a wool wash from Fancy Tiger because it smells good. 

Gently drain the water and squeeze the hanks.  You want to be very careful not to agitate the yarn or it will start to felt (that is, shrink and tighten up on itself).  Roll the hanks up in a towel

and press to get out the excess water.

Hang for a couple days to dry out. 

When dry, you can wind these hanks into center pull balls.  Yarn stores will offer to do this for you when you buy hanks from them.  For some reason, the workers in yarn stores take FOREVER to wind yarn.  I have my own swift and winder to do this at home.

I can’t believe I forgot to photograph that part!  Here’s what it would have looked like:

 (Thanks for the cameo, Miranda!)

So here are my three skeins of homespun yarn, ready to be knit!

I chose to make the Trixie Cowl pattern.  I needed a complimentary yarn.  I found a dark purple alpaca and silk blend from Blue Sky Alpacas that worked nicely with my own yarn.

After knitting the scarf it needs to be “blocked.”  This will set the form and even out stitching.  Another soak in the sink.

And another squeeze in a towel.

This pattern has you block the piece flat before joining in a loop.  Be careful not to be too distracted by Colin Firth’s smoldering portrayal of Mr. Darcy, or you might join the wrong ends together.  That will make you angry and have to spend a lot of time un-picking that rueful kitchener stitch.

Then you are finished!  Wait for daylight and take some final pictures.  Don’t include your head if you slept in, have frizzy hair, and no make-up.  Do include your kid because he’s cute 24/7.

Finally, update your Ravelry page.  Here’s my Ravelry page for the finished scarf. 

Final step: go to etsy and browse for roving 😉

In the middle of all that work busy-ness (business?) our BFFs came back to visit.  Hello Walkers!!!!

They are in the middle of another life upheaval, moving from Idaho to Oregon.  I am very sad that Colorado did not make the cut.  But it was so much fun to see them for a couple days. 

We ate out at some local favorites.  I cannot believe there is no barbeque in Pocatello!  We saw Moonrise Kingdom at my favorite theater (using VIP leather loveseats with complimentary popcorn and soda). I still love Wes Anderson, btw.   I got to play a couple rounds of trivia at our new haunt, Teller’s Taproom, before bedtime. 

Miranda and I made not one, but TWO trips to Fancy Tiger.  Both trips were over two hours long.  It was heaven.  The first time I took photos of everything that I seriously considered buying.  Look how much money I saved! 

The second trip I spent $60 on luxury yarns.  I had worked long hours the day before, and long hours all week that prevented me from playing with my friends. My inner voice said “Treat yo self!” and so I did.  How I love Anzula and Madelinetosh yarn. 

Oh, and let me say thank you to 3G streaming Netflix on phones, that allow little girls to watch My Little Pony for an hour while their moms shop for crafts.

Sigh.  We really miss you guys.  I wish there were more lunches like this:

Maybe someday.  Good luck on your move!

I feel like I’ve been working non-stop for the last couple weeks.  My paychecks indicate that yeah, I pretty much have been working all the time.  When I’m home we scrounge up dinner, play with Jack, and complain about how hot it is.  Also, I knit a lot.  Oh, and I installed a new stereo in Ben’s car, a late Father’s Day gift.  Now I have bluetooth envy. 

Here’s a plethora of Jack photos.  Not pictured, the snotty nose and coughs that have plagued him for the last three days.