Things have been quiet on the blog because I've been working on some things in the background. In a couple of weeks, I hope to be releasing some new series on the blog, but I have to research, photograph, and edit before those will be ready to go live. Fridays will still be a roundup of what I've been up to in the week, and so that's what I'm going to be writing about today.
Crochet
Remember that swatch I posted last time? This project has been totally kicking my ass. It's yarn I reclaimed from a vest I made one of my children that had been attacked by moths. I assumed, since it had made a vest before, that I would have plenty of yarn for a handbag, but I guess I lost more of it to the moths than I realized, because I was able to get this far before I realized I was running out of the yarn I was using:
Luckily I still had some of the complimentary color left, and I figured I could just stripe them together the way I did in the original vest, for low relief stripes:
Things were looking good, and there was definitely enough yarn to finish it now. I mean, it had been a vest! I cannot possibly have lost that much yarn, right?
Of course this is where I ran out of both yarns. Okay, so I was being cocky. That's okay, that's fine. This time I will measure the yardage, do a little math on how much square footage that makes in this fabric, and with a little math, I can figure out the size I can afford to make! Perfect, so easy! I determined that I could make a pouch 6 inches wide and 9 inches tall. That's the perfect size to fit a phone, plus a few dollars, lip gloss, small things a middle schooler would want to carry around. Perfect. So I start again, at peace knowing that this time, things would be different.
Well, of course I didn't account for user error, now did I? turns out, if you do the shaping on both sides, the shape of the finished object will not be correct. I have been crocheting for 28 years, and yet, I am still capable of this kind of mistake. Humbling, to say the least. But, ok, that's not too bad, I'm not that far away from where I need to add the width, so I just ripped back and fixed it.
Okay, this seems like it will finish without a hitch. I finished the front, I'm about two thirds of the way through the back, then I just have to sew the side seams, sew the lining (with magnet closures!) and weave a strap. Oh, and get the hardware to make it adjustable, that was part of the request too. Huh. When I put it like that it doesn't sound like I'm very close to completing this at all! Oh well. When I do finish the crochet portion, I'm going to wash it with the other items in need of lining and then place them all in a bag, to be worked on bit by bit. It's nice to have the outer portion of so many bags and pouches done, though!
Spinning
The sock spin is coming along nicely, especially since the weather has been so warm lately that I'd rather not have a project sitting in my lap and making me sweat. Having the spindle whirring away at my side, casting a slight breeze, is a much more welcome addition to these suddenly 80+ degree days.
I know I shouldn't, because it was largely caused by massive wildfires that caused problems for millions, but I'm missing the mild summer we had last year. This time last year it was still in the 60s and I wore a cardigan in the mornings and evening more often than not. These days I'm showering two or three times a day just to cool off and debating with myself about how many items of clothing are truly necessary inside one's home. Unfortunately our heat is still on in the building, so the only method we have to cool our home is to open all the windows, which is less effective than I'd like with it's over 75 degrees outside!
Anyway, back to the spinning.
Finished the last ply of the first braid, which was the lighter of the two, and wound it off onto a ply ball. unfortunately, since I plan to mix plies from each braid, this did not mean it was time for plying yet.
This is ply one of the darker braid, and it actually came out a lot more similar to the lighter braid than I had hoped. At this point I was really hopeful that I'd be able to achieve a heathered look in the yarn, which was my goal.
I put the lightest and darkest ball together, but honestly, all 4 balls have similar values to these somewhere inside them, so at this point, I think blending them will be really successful. I am excited, and wind them into a 3 ply ball, including the darkest, the lightest and one of the middle tones. The second middle tone was left on the table, for use in the next skein.
Seeing them all together here on the ball, it was really easy to see the darkest and lightest strands where they lay together, and I began to worry it would look more marled than heathered, but it was too late to turn back, so I pressed on.
I've mostly been spinning lace weight in 50 gram increments, so when I first started plying, I panicked and thought "what is this, worsted weight?" Luckily, I have a spinner's control card (it came with my Electric Eel Wheel Nano - thanks Maurice! It's been such a useful little tool ever since) so I pulled it out and verified that while there was some variability, it was indeed 14-16 wraps per inch and holding it in front of the sample diameters on the face of the card, the majority of the bit I had spun was under the fingering slot, and was closer to light fingering. It's amazing how once your hands get used to something, they can really feel some truly minute differences. I'm not sure that, outside of the realm of yarn, I would be able to tell the difference between something that can fit 14-16 in an inch as compared to 18-20 in an inch, but boy can I tell when it's yarn!
Anyway, this was one of the biggest skeins I've done literally in years, but I didn't want to have to weave in ends on my socks, because I'm planning lace for them, and I don't think there would be any inobvious places to weave in the ends. Having a continuous piece of yarn for each (knee high!) sock was critical, so I was stepping outside my comfort zone a bit. And I'm glad I did! It wasn't as difficult as I found it the last time I did this. It's hard to say, but I think my hands and wrists may have grown a bit stronger with the practice over the years? Knowing that it isn't as difficult gives me the confidence to plan similarly large skeins for things in the future, should it be necessary. I'll probably stick with 50 gram skeins in most cases because it's a more convenient amount of fiber to carry around for each ply, and is generally easier on my hands, but at least for now, these skeins are within my reach.
There are some places where the fiber definitely is more marled than I would have liked, but overall, the tone of the yarn is the heathered colors I was going for. I think combining the lighter and darker plies worked the way I hoped it would, and it's a strategy I would use again if my fiber came out noticeably different between batches like this. So, all around, a success and I'm pleased!
It has not yet had it's bath, those I have spun this fiber before and the change afterwards were negligible, so I'm comfortable calling it 212 yards in a 100 gram skein. I know the density says it should be aran weight, but this is from the high twist used. It makes the yarn more durable, a thing I desperately need in socks, if my mending logs are anything to go by! I also just need more socks, period, so each pair can get less wear. The socks I'm mending now have gotten near daily use in the winter for a couple of years now, and didn't start to fall apart until recently, and the ones with the most wear are the oldest. I'm hoping to make at least 3-4 pairs of socks over the summer to supplement the ones I have now and hopefully lower the amount of repairs I need to do.
Quilt Repair
I have not been photographing most of the remaining repairs because they're boring, visually, but I saved the worst repair for last, and this one, I think, is at least a little interesting.
To the best of my knowledge, this rip was caused by one of my children sitting on the quilt, feeling uncomfortable with it under them and then, without getting up or shifting their body weight, tugging and yanking on the quilt to remove it. I am unwilling to assign particular blame, because this is behavior I've seen in all of them, but I have my suspicions.
From the front, it doesn't look too different to the other damages blocks, which leads me to suspect they may have all been damaged in a similar way.
The back is where you can really see the staring the blanket was under. Seems like either some cross-wise pulling or potentially being tugged in one direction and then the other. The batting is also torn, but I'm going to just let that be.
For the front, I proceeded as usual, and with the usual satisfying results. The back, however, does not present the same opportunity for invisible repair.
Even using the blind stitch and getting as close to the edges of these rips as I'm comfortable with, there's no way to make it truly invisible, so I focused on just making the join strong so that it's not as vulnerable as it could be the next time it gets yanked on like this. It will still be a weaker spot for the rest of it's life, but there's really nothing I can do about that. I can just make sure it's serviceable for as long as possible.
Tomorrow will probably be my last day of quilt repair, freeing my up for other sewing projects. To be honest, it's a relief. A month ago, it was pleasant to have the warmth of the blanket in my lap, but now it's becoming very uncomfortable and I can only work on it in the cool of the morning before it gets up to temp for the day. I'll probably work on the pouch linings next, because those are smaller, less warm-to-the-lap projects, and maybe by the time that's finished, if it's still summer, I'll move on the the project I've been sitting on for more than a year: A scrap quilt made of the clothes we can no longer wear that were not good enough for goodwill. Included are some shirts with designs on the front, like I don't know the name of this type of shirt, but like band shirts, you know? Big design on the front, maybe the back also? Google is telling me the term is "graphic tee" and maybe that's right, I don't know from personal experience. Anyway, Some of these have really personal memories attached, so if I could cut out the design, and remaining scraps that are still good for accent or whatever, along with the other scraps, I think I could make a really cool memory quilt. I have the basic idea sketched out, but I have to take some measurements and math it out (better than I mathed the crochet project!) before I can properly commit, but measuring and cutting the pieces would be a great prep step for assembling the top in the fall and quilting in the winter. We'll see.
Have a safe weekend in this heat, and let me know what you're working on in the comments!
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