Sarasota Lace

I’m headed to Sarasota, Florida tomorrow. On Saturday and Sunday, I’ll be teaching some spinning workshops for the Manasota Weavers Guild. And, I’ve scheduled a few extra days so that I can visit with friends and soak in some warm weather.

As with any trip, it’s important to take just the right knitting project along. For this trip, I’m taking a scarf that I started knitting last night. The yarn is one that I spun from silk “hankies”. I have about an ounce of yarn; less than 200 yards. So, this scarf will be small.

I selected a lace pattern from one of my favorite knitting books, Knitting Lace, by Susanna E. Lewis. It’s a zigzag lace that’s part of pattern #52. Even though the pattern repeat is only 4 stitches and 8 rows, it is requiring a bit of attention to knit. There are decreases on both the right side and the wrong side of the fabric. I suspect there will be challenges if/when I need to correct any mistakes. For now, this petite project seems perfect for a February trip to Florida!

Beautiful Bluefaced Leicester

Last October, I taught a workshop in Sault Ste Marie (aka “The Soo”). The workshop was all about wool. We examined and spun wools from several breeds of sheep. It became a bit of a joke in the workshop that I kept saying, “fill-in-the-blank is one of my favorites!” Finn? Oh, Finn is one of my favorites! Coopworth? Coopworth is one of my favorites! Targhee? Targhee is one of my favorites!….

And, yes, Bluefaced Leicester is one of my favorites! Really! And here’s why: BFL has a long staple length, it’s respectably soft and silky, and it’s quite lustrous. One other thing I’ve noticed about BFL is that in its knitted form it seems cool to the touch. Cooler, at least, than other wools. Make no mistake, BFL is wool and is great for keeping you nice and warm, but when I run my hands over sweaters made of BFL, they feel cool. The scientist in me wonders what physical property makes this wool feel cool when other wools do not. Something I’ll just have to investigate.

I’ve been lucky this week to have spent much of my spinning time creating a bulky yarn from some lovely BFL combed tops. These tops were a delight to spin, in large part because they had been beautifully hand dyed by Chris Roosien, owner of Briar Rose Fibers. I see Chris several times a year; we frequent many of the same fiber events. And we often barter services. She provides hand dyed yarns and fibers, and I provide handspun yarns. These yarns that I’ve spun this week will be headed back to Chris for a knitting project she has in mind.

Chris had sent me 4 different colorways: one in the red family, one in the orange family, one in the olive family, and one that reminds me of sea glass. I wish I’d taken pictures of the tops before I spun them, but here’s a picture of the yarns.



I spun the singles (Z) and plied the yarns (S) on my Louet S10 DT wheel. It’s a great wheel for spinning thick yarns. I used the largest whorl size (lowest drive ratio) for spinning the singles. I drafted about 4 inches of fiber per 2 treadles. I used the medium whorl size for plying, drafting about 16 inches per 4 treadles. The resulting yarns measured approximately 8-9 wraps per inch (Stay tuned: the wraps-per-inch measurement is the topic of an upcoming blog entry.) I knitted a small swatch on size 10 needles and got a gauge of 3.5 stitches per inch and 5 rows per inch. While working to get a bulky yarn, I still tried to spin a reasonably soft, squeezeable yarn. I think it worked; the yarns averaged 33 yards per ounce.

Interquilten in Interlochen

Interlochen, Michigan is best known as the home of the Interlochen Center for the Arts, with its internationally renowned Interlochen Arts Academy High School and Interlochen Summer Arts Camp.

Interlochen is otherwise a rather small village. Last summer, a new quilt shop opened and added its zest to the burg. It’s called Interquilten. And last week, the store moved to a new location – across the street – into an older building that has been an Interlochen fixture since I was a kid, when it was The Music Box, a gift shop with what I remember as a fabulous array of old fashioned candies. The building has a quirky shape, and an oddly slanting roof. It’s painted red. Inside, there are flagstone floors, walls paneled in wood, and even a fireplace. Charm and then some!

Not only is the building loaded with charm, but the store will soon be loaded with my handspun yarns, greeting cards, and knitting patterns for sale starting in February, 2010. I’m also scheduled to teach a knitting class in February, and I expect to be offering more knitting classes there in the coming months. The class I’m teaching in February is “Knitting Savvy: The Basics of Cables”. It’s a two-session class, meeting from 11am-12noon, Thursdays, Feb 11 & 18.

I do love cables! Here’s the class description:

Knitted cables – those twisty, winding patterns that are often seen on Aran sweaters – look complicated. But, they’re easier to knit than they look. And, they’re fun, too! In two sessions, we will cover the basics of making cables: a “front” cross, a “back” cross, twists versus snakes (sounds dangerous!), even cables, and odd cables. With the basic skills we will cover, you will be able to navigate the most complicated-looking cable pattern! Participants will have the chance to begin a scarf that includes a cable pattern.

Here’s a picture of a pillow – with cables – that I knitted a few years ago. I called it “Garden Party”.

3rd Annual Fiber Arts Retreat

My First Blog Entry!

I live in the north, where winter is snowy and cold and a great time for fiber activities.

One of those activities occurs in a couple weeks: the 3rd Annual Fiber Arts Retreat at Twin Lakes Camp, near Traverse City, Michigan (February 5-7, 2010). What better way to spend a weekend in winter than to sit and spin in a pine-paneled lodge next to a stone fireplace surrounded by cheerful folks with fiber obsessions!

The retreat schedule is largely unstructured, allowing folks to work on their fiber activities, or go snow shoeing, or gaze into the fire, or enjoy a cup of tea. The only scheduled event this year is a spinning workshop that I’ll be leading. There will be a short session on Friday night and a follow-up session on Saturday afternoon. We’ll cover aspects of controlling thickness and twist on Friday, and strategies for consistency from bobbin to bobbin and from skein to skein on Saturday.

The retreat is organized fabulously well by Elizabeth Koeppen and Jenny McCain. You can contact Elizabeth or Jenny at: fiberartsretreat@gmail.com

Here’s a bit of info from the flyer: “The purpose of this retreat is to encourage and foster a close knit and supportive community of women that love fiber arts. Please feel welcome to bring any of your finished projects as a show and tell. If you have any items for sale and would like to showcase them, we will have a display table available. We hope this event is fun, encouraging, and time well spent with friends!”

Twin Lakes Camp is owned by Grand Traverse County. Although near to Traverse City, it has a quiet, countryside location, with lots of hiking (snow shoeing, skiing) trails. Gilbert Lodge is the building where we gather to carry on with fibers and such. I love its wood floors, large windows, and enormous fireplace. It also contains the kitchen (always available for tea, coffee, or snacks). There’s a separate dormitory building for staying overnight.

Here’s a picture I took from last year’s retreat.