Pseudo-rolags

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On one of my zillion yahoo-spinning lists, we recently discussed the topic of making rolags without using handcards. I never use handcards, but I like to use rolags, and here's how I do it -

NOTE - I'm fully aware that what I make are not the same as "real" rolags. I'm OK with this. These pseudorolags work just fine, and I love to use them. In fact, this is what I used to spin Anastasia's Socks - which was a very fun spinning project.

OK, so - here's how I do it - - I flick with a kitten brush - very cheap at the pet store -










You can also make pseudorolags out of roving - it's almost exactly like the process above, only without the flicking. Simply pull a staple-length bit of roving (OK, so it's top - let's not have this argument too, heh heh heh) and lay it on the fabric. Pull off another bit, lay it down and etc. The pieces which you are pulling off are whispy, thin bits, not great big fat hunks. It makes a lovely spinning preparation.

If handcards give you problems, but you would still like to spin from a nice, lofty, springy, easy-to-draft rolag, then - here ya go! Have fun!
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Boucle!

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Last month, my good friend, Peggy, came down from the big city to my humble little burg to teach us how to spin boucle! The class was aimed towards my friends, the Spinning Wheel Spinners, but Peggy made a special attempt to teach me, the Spindle Spinner, how to spin Boucle, too.

Let me tell you, there's hardly anything more exciting than watching little boucles pop up on your yarn!!!

Let me begin at the beginning. This class was sponsored by my good friend, Allie, from EyeDazzler Alpacas up in Westcliffe. Since the class was on January 31, Allie was afraid that maybe there would be snow, and it can be hard to get to Westcliffe in the snow, so Allie held the class at our local public library. This turned out to be an exceptionally nice place to have a Spin In.

We spun Mohair into singles. I bought some Mohair last summer, so I had this nice supply of blue-green curly hairy fiber. Let me tell you - this stuff is the polar opposite of alpaca, my favorite spinning fiber. There's a reason why they call it MoHAIR.

Hair. You are spinning Hair. Not my most favorite spindling experience. But, I'm willing to learn something new.

First - we made "brushed mohair." (as always, click on the photo to enlarge it.)We just made a two ply, then simply brushed it with a regular old hairbrush. Nice!

I think that my particular batch of mohair must have come from an older goat because it was pretty coarse and hairlike. Peggy had some nicer, softer mohair, which she explained came from younger animals. Like just about any other animal, its hair gets more coarse as it ages.

Second - we made "two pass boucle" which was easy enough, and really pretty, but really fragile and delicate, as the little boucles slide along the thread.


I can't see knitting with this, as I think that all of the little bumps would get pushed into a giant wad.

Here's how you can do it - spin some mohair, or any other fiber, into a fairly slender single with medium to high twist. On another spindle, start a leader of sewing thread, fine yarn, embroidery floss, or whatever. Tie your single onto the thread, and start spinning your spindle, slowly, in the plying direction - in my case, counterclockwise. Feed out about a foot or two feet's worth and then, slowly, begin to gently push the single down the thread, towards the spindle. Keep pushing, evening it out along the thread and - suddenly - little boucles pop out! Arrange them nicely, then wind on to the spindle, and repeat with another arm's length. Continue until you are all done. It's called "two pass" because the first pass was spinning the mohair, and the second pass is plying it with the thread and making the little boucles.

Third - we made "three pass boucle" and WOW, this came out really nice! The little boucles are held firmly in place, and the yarn is quite stable. Now, this is something I can use!

Here's how - Start from the end of the "here's how" for two pass boucle. On another spindle, attach a leader of something fine - you can use the same stuff you used in the second pass, or you can use something completely different. In my sample, I used some sparkly sewing machine thread, and it came out so cute! Tie the results from the two pass to the new thread and mount on your spindle. Begin the spindle spinning in the original spinning direction and ply the new thread together with the results from the two-pass boucle. Simple as that. The threads from the second and third passes criss-cross over the single and hold the little bubbles in place.

In other words, spin the mohair, ply in the opposite direction, then ply again in the original spinning direction. I'd use the terms "S" and "Z" but I *always* get it backwards, so just figure it out.

The ladies at the wheels did it a tad bit different, but not terribly different. They also did it MUCH faster than I was able to.

Fourth - we learned how to "core spin" so that little curls of mohair stand out from the core of the yarn. I used some Regia sock yarn as my core. I mounted it onto my spindle, and got the spindle spinning *slowly* clockwise (which was unplying the sock yarn), catching the butt end of little clumps of curls onto the yarn. Wind onto the spindle, and repeat until you've done enough.

Then, once I had spun enough, I tied the end of this yarn to a slender binder, much as I did in the three-pass boucle. I mounted this to my spindle and got it spinning counterclockwise, and plied the binder onto the yarn. This step also restores the proper ply to the core yarn, as it got untwisted in the first step. I plied slowly so that the curls could pop out and not get mashed. The result is... interesting... but I can't see that I'll ever actually have a project which calls for something like this, but then, as you know, I have no imagination whatsoever.

**It's important to note that the binder thread, in any of the above projects, can be threaded with beads, which can be fed into place as you are plying the yarn. I simply couldn't figure out how to do this without sprouting a whole 'nother set of arms, so I left it to my Spinning Wheel friends to do that part. The ladies at the wheels were doing a fantastic job of it, and their beaded boucle yarn came out really beautiful!

Peggy helped me realize that it's time to start a spinning binder - how I wish I had done this a long time ago. From now on - you hear me? - from now on, I'm going to keep notes and samples and put them into this binder! Let's just hope that my natural laziness doesn't cause me to drop this project.My daughter gave me this binder. She feels that she's outgrown the multicolored-laser-iridescent design. Funny, I haven't outgrown it at all. How does this work. I think that this is the COOLEST binder ever!

Thanks, Peggy, and Thanks Allie! This was a wonderful class! I learned a lot and best of all, I had a blast.

Go spin some boucle!!!
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Felted Slippers - one last time.

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After my last round of making felted slippers, I swore I'd never make them again. It's sooooo foolish to knit a great big item, throw it into the washer and pull out a considerably smaller item, isn't it? Seems backwards, yes?

However, dear darling hubby's slippers quit on him, and I can't stand for my dear darling husband to have cold feet.... soooo....

Another pair is born!  Fiber Trends "Felt Clogs" by Bev Galeskas.
The obligatory "before felting" shot -

In setting up the obligatory "after felting shot," this little cutie pie felt certain that dh's feet were splayed just for her. Or was it the camera? Whichever, she appeared out of nowhere and took her seat, pretty as you please. She's so spoiled.

OK, got her shooed away, and the other little cutie pie showed up. What's with these dogs?

OK, HERE is the obligatory "after felting shot" complete with the pattern for scale. I needle-felted the hearts, and in the process, discovered that needle felting isn't my craft. I'll stick with knitting.

As you can plainly see in the photos, we have hardwood floors, and I didn't want dear darling hubby to slip, so I sewed bits of leather to the bottoms. We have a Tandy store here in town, and it has a scrap bin, so I was able to buy scraps for $2. The two pieces of leather don't match, but dh doesn't care, and neither do I. These pieces were smooth on one side, and suede on the other side - I sewed them suede side out. DH reports that they are super grippy and no worries about slipping. Added bonus - they can be worn for quick trips out into the garage or yard. Looks like they've already taken a couple of these trips, eh?

This is a completely genius pattern. It works up so nicely! And fast, too.

I'd like to share with you a couple of tricks I've discovered, while making oodles of pairs of these clogs. First, make a photo copy. Black out all of the instructions which don't pertain to the size you are making. Careful now, as it's not always easy to tell which parts to mark out until you've read that entire line.

Here, you can see my heavily marked up page. Yes, it's blurred - buy your own pattern!!!

The highlights are to indicate where the pattern shifts from one type of thing to another. See, this pattern is quite repetitive, but not forever. You do the same thing for a number of rows, then you do a special row, then you do a different thing for a number of rows. This is what makes the pattern so completely wonderful. Marking up the pattern makes it much easier to follow, and to remember where the special, shaping rows are.

Next, circle the middle stitches. You can see part of my pattern below. In the upper margin, I wrote the word, middle, and circled it in purple ink. This is to remind me that the parts of the pattern which are circled in purple ink are the middle (middle of the toe) stitches. If you put a stitch marker before and after this middle stitch, then it makes everything so much simpler when it comes to knitting the upper.
See, the pattern will say to knit howevermanystitches, increase, knit some stitches, increase, knit some stitches, then "m1, k1, m1" - the "k1" here is your middle stitch. The first howevermany is a large number of stitches, but the "increase, knit, increase, knit" isn't very many at all, less than 10 in each case.

I don't mind counting up to 10, but I don't want to count the large number, especially if I'm knitting at a coffee shop or something (mistakes!!!), so I count backwards from the middle stitch, and then place a temporary stitch marker. I knit to the temporary marker, then do the middle increases, and so on. Get it?

If you count backwards from the middle stitch, it's so much easier than counting forward from where you are in the knitting. The same goes for the other side of the middle stitch - each row ends with something like "m1, k1, m1, k1." There's no sense in counting out 45 stitches when all you really need to do is to knit up to the last two stitches, then m1 k1 m1 k1. Get it?

This probably makes no sense to those of you who aren't knitting these slippers, but it makes perfect sense when you are knitting! This little trick turns this project from an - Only knit when you have quiet and privacy project - to a - Knit while participating in lively conversation project. Anyway, I find that this little tip makes all the difference.

Also, I've circled the stitch numbers in pencil. It's nice to stop and check every now and then. I've also circled the special rows - more incentive to stop and follow the instructions, rather than just knit and knit...

Once you get your pattern all marked up, put the copy back into the plastic sleeve, behind your original. You'll still want to look at the photos as you are knitting. I move a Post-it Note along the pattern, so I can keep up with which line I'm supposed to be on.

Another hint is that if you goof up the stitch counts, it really doesn't matter - you are going to felt the things! So, just fix the math on the next round and continue on your merry way. If you were supposed to decrease on the knit row, but you forgot, then decrease on the purl row. Honestly, it won't matter in the end, and it makes no sense to rip out when no one will ever know but you, and you'll forget.

When I made my very first pair I followed the directions for knitting the soles, which means that I knitted the soles with a slit up the middle. However, when I knitted all subsequent pairs, I made a significant change in how I make the soles - I do the "turkish cast on" and then knit the soles in one piece, rather than going back and sewing up the seam on the very bottom. I find that this makes it much neater, and for me much easier, in the long run. You have to alternate between knit and purl in order to end up with garter stitch, but I still like it so much better than going back and sewing up the sole.

OK, now, it's official. I'm never making another pair of these slippers, ever again. This time, I mean it. Really.

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We won at the ABR Fall Fest!

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We won again!

You know, I really like entering fiber competitions. I wouldn't have predicted it, as I'm not an overly competitive person, but really, I do like fiber competitions. I like the "grade sheet" that you get back from the judge - telling you where you can improve.

Grace and I entered items in the latest ABR Fall Festival (that's Alpaca Breeders of the Rockies), and we won 3 first place ribbons, and I also won "People's Choice" for one of my entries! Wha Hoo! The award for People's Choice is a ribbon *and* this - ... but, I get ahead of myself.

Grace entered her three ply alpaca skein, you saw it here, and you read about it here, and here. She won first place again! Way to go, Grace!

I entered this tiny skein - I spun this out of an alpaca-silk mix which is sooooooooo delightful that it practically spins itself! In order to enter, the skein has to be 50 yards - this skein measures 55 yards, believe it or not. It's so tiny! I can't wait to spin the rest!

I used a teeny, jewel spindle -
and I used my favorite method of spinning, Tammy Rizzo's Navajo Ply on the Fly.

As an aside - the case for this product makes a perfect spindle case! I have plenty enough room for an ounce or more of fiber and spindles. I can drop it into my knitting bag without getting fluff all over everything. I wish that we could just buy these cases without having to damage our knees, first. Have you ever wanted to put a sticky note on such a product which reads, "So sorry about your knee. If you have no interest in re-using the case, then please call me because I'd like to have it." Imagine all of the cool packages we could obtain in this way? Sorry - I digress.

Back to the topic, heh heh heh. I won first place *and* people's choice for this little skein. I'm really happy to win people's choice, as it comes with a real prize - a gift subscription to any Interweave magazine. Last year, I won two people's choice awards, so I asked for Spin-Off and Knitter's. This year - which to ask for? Decisions... maybe I'll get Piecework?

I also entered my big honkin' alpaca doiley, and it won first place, too. It was my "summer project" and every time I look at it, I have so many nice memories. It took me practically the whole summer to complete, and I dragged it around with me to so many places.

Mostly, I knitted it here, on the bench that my darling husband built for me. This was such a nice way to start the day - with my coffee, on my bench, listening to the birds, knitting and knitting.

I also knitted at the HARP - and at the Fourth of July fireworks celebration - Just *thinking* about this doiley triggers a particular memory - oh, this was just TOO CUTE. See, my darling daughters are also jugglers, and as we were waiting for dark, and the fireworks to begin, I knitted and they juggled.

This little boy was entranced. He couldn't stop staring! After a while, he showed us HIS tricks!
Look! No Hands! What a cutie! My daughters insist that it was their juggling which threw him into a fit of showing off, but you and I both know that it was the knitting.

Here is the doiley, pinned out to block. You might look at it and say, "doiley" but I look at it and say, Summer Memories...
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