The Tilsons

Every year Interweave Knits Spin-Off throws a huge autumn retreat (6 days!) where spinners get together and bond over courses, workshops, and social events.  This event is aptly named SOAR - Spin Off Autumn Retreat.  I remember hearing about it last year. I had only just started spinning and really wasn’t good enough to even enjoy spinning that much, let alone talking about it with other people.  Then, this year, I got myself a Joy, and took some spinning lessons.  Now, I’m home from Manitoulin and feeling like I would like to keep spinning and maybe even learn some more, and since it is so close to home (Sunriver Resort in Oregon, USA) I registered!  I’m going!

I even went whole hog (oink) and registered for the workshop and retreat! I’m taking the spinning for weaving retreat, and then a beginners weaving course, wool combs course, spin to design course, and sock spinning course.  I wish I could have gotten into the lace one, but I’m sure I can find a teacher who can fill me in on the details when I want to get into that.

Still not quite sure how I am going to get there (so if you are driving from Vancouver, BC and want a buddy, lemme know!)  If I can’t find a carpool, the train seems like a pretty good alternative, looks pretty fun and inexpensive… I could probably bring the loom, the combs and my wheel (yay train cargo! boo planes!)

I think I’m still in shock about the price of the whole experience… must restrain myself from buying large quantities of fleece at the market.

See you there!

Well, Linda, you’ve gone and made me into a fiber prep nerd.  I never every thought that I would get into combing my own fleece, but my glorious spinning teacher on Maintoulin graciously allowed me to try her wool combs.  The power one has from combing their own wool is remarkable.  I realized that I could never spin that pre-prepared matted roving ever agin (well I might be exagerating) after feeling the fluffy liveliness of fresh roving made by hand.

I remember learning about these mysterious weapons at Birklands, but never actually got to try them.  I found the wool carders so awkward and hard on my wrists, not to mention that the little lumps of wool (woolags?) they produce are less than fun to spin off of.  I then vowed never to do my own wool prep.  How was I to know that wool combs would change my life?  Who knew that one can even blend wool on combs?  I may never have to use carders.

I searched online and found a man named Alvin Ramer, who is in Ontario and makes these combs as well as other spinning implements by hand.  He sent me the combs right away with two dizzes made out of seashells (funny for Ontario!) and a tine straightener.  Turns out he is the same gentleman who made Linda’s combs.

The ones I ordered are mid size, called Super Mini Combs (one step up from the Mini Combs, and one step down from the large combs).  The Super Mini Combs are appropriate for Romney and Corridale, while still being small enough for finer fibers like Marino and Shetland.  Excellent!  I chose the Walnut wood, as it is a little heavier than the cherrywood (my second choice).  The weight is quite perfect as I found the large combs I tried at Linda’s to be a little heavy - she said the Mini Combs are too light.

I highly recommend prepping your own wool - bye bye nubbly bits and little sticks, hello lively, fresh roving!

Wow. Its been a crazy week.  I can’t believe it is already Saturday, All Hallows Eve has passed, and November is here.  What the heck have we been doing?

1. We got back home from Linnaea Farm two days late (Monday) because the install of our veggie oil kit took a little longer than expected.  Our poor veggie guy (Bjorn) fell of some scaffolding and seriously hurt his back.  The silver lining in the clouds for us was an extra day at OUR Ecovillage and then just the right amount of time at Linnaea. (where we submitted our applications for the Ecological Farm Program!  Weeee!!!)
   



2. I didn’t get as much knitting done as I thought.  Justin didn’t get as much homework done as he had hoped. I truly thought I would be done the socks, and maybe even more, but no, boarding the Quadra Island Ferry, they looked like this.  You see, I had to rip them back, because I didnt’ put in the sole increases.  For some reason, I don’t know why, I thought that the socks would stretch.  No.  They did not stretch.  Rip back, put in increases.  Even now, I’m not sure that I did enough.
   



3. I finished the socks on the ferry, and then sewed the top when I went to dinner with Beth on Wednesday night.  Meanwhile, Justin worked furiously on his case studies for school.Then I started the toe of the other side (A great way to prevent second sock phobia is to make them for someone else, then you will have to finish them).  Here is the progress so far.



4. After we got back, I spent some time doing actual work, and then Justin and I applied for Bullocks Homestead.  That’s right, we have applied to two places.  Bullocks was lucky, because I found the application online THE DAY BEFORE IT WAS DUE.  Holy cow.  Luck they didn’t need written references like Linnaea.  The difference between the programs is that at Bullocks it is almost completely self directed.  Either program will benefit us greatly, I can’t wait to know whether we have been accepted.
5. Justin left for school the morning after the application scramble, and I finished the back of my brothers Retrofit Sweater.  You remember I frogged it, well after much debate (because it is handspun and not entirely consistent)  I have decided to knit the front and back, fit him with them and if it doesn’t fit, then add side pannels in ribbing.  After that, I will gracefully knit up to the collar, make the sleeves to fit the boy and then WHAM, I will have a slightly customized Retrofit ready for christmas.  I have drafted more fleece, which I will spin today.
   





6. THEN, as if that is not enough to make my fingers numb, last night I started the ribbing on MY sweater, the Nubby Cardigan by Deborah Newton (Knitscene Fall 2008).  The Small size length is 16″ from armpit to hem, and I plan to make it 2-3 inches longer.  Therefore, I have increased the ribbing by 2 inches.  I also plan to put cables in the sleeves… I think all women’s cable sweaters should have cables in the sleeves. Have you checked out Ravelry yet?  Lots of great info and photos there.
   

Wow. I love knitting my own handspun yarn. If you don’t have a wheel, and you are a knitter, I highly recommend learning so that you can knit with something you made! First off, it is so fulfilling to see yarn hanging and drying that is becoming plump and soft. Then, when you touch it, and roll it between your fingers, it is neat to say “I made this”, then when you knit the whole back of a sweater and hold it up poking your finger at the centre of it to check and see that it really is a solid piece of fabric, it is a little like giving birth (minus the pain). You say “I can’t believe you came from me!”

So the sweater. Retrofit is really simple, being stockinette stitch. It has given me a chance to listen to some great audiobooks, and speed up my knitting and thus has moved along quite quickly.
A couple of other recommendations: Read the complete Post.

A couple of weeks ago I started spinning the yarn for my first “real” project.  Yes, I did some handspun that is still sitting in my chest waiting to be made into a felted roving ball holder, and I spun the yarn for Seva’s Lace Shawl… but those were simple.  There was no particular guage to maintain, in fact the lumpier it was, the better.

I chose the pattern from the Fall Knitty 2008 - Retrofit by Jesse Loesberg.  I like it more than his other pattern (Avast) and the Hero Pullover, both of which I was considering until I noticed some things.  Avast has cables.  Justin notified me that cables are bad for men. (too bad… I love knitting cables)  And the Hero Pullover, well… it has DROP SHOULDERS.  I don’t know about you, but I think that drop shoulders make men look slumpy.  Unless they are standing like the guy in the picture in the magazine all the time, drop shoulders drop.  Further more, men rarely stand like the guy in the picture.

Back to spinning.  I began slowly, drafting fiber… Read the complete Post.