Spinning Wheel

So exciting news I forgot to share with you this summer. After months of saving, my husband bought me a Lendrum Double Treadle Complete Spinning Wheel for my birthday. I have named her Lily and she is absolutely beautiful! (More pictures will be forthcoming as soon as my camera is working.) I have been spinning on and off since Lily arrived. Right now, I am working some Pot Luck Roving from Paradise Fibers. It is a lovely Caribbean Blue which streaks of Lavender. I have almost two complete bobbins and am about ready to start the third before plying.

I spent most of this week laid up in bed with a terrible cold/throat infection/upper respiratory infection. I did not get much done in the way of knitting mostly because all I wanted to do was sleep. Minor progress was made, however, on a few things. I finished the first Tonks sock, but didn't cast on the second. The Bitterroot shawl is to the point of adding beads!!! I plan to start those this evening after the kids go to bed. I also have completed 16 total squares for Warm-up America. A note on that: I received an email from Land's End indicating that the yarn would be mailed sometime between the 22 and 24 of October. So, hopefully I will get it in time to finish all of the squares by mid-December. Sorry for the shameful lack of photos...hopefully the camera will be in full functioning order soon.

A Time to Give...

Recently, I have been feeling a bit selfish with my knitting. It is all about me and what I want. Rarely have I used it to give to others. So I guess my reaction to a recent email I received is rather surprising. TKGA sent out a message about an opportunity to help complete afghan blocks for Warm-up America. When I saw the email, something tugged at my heart strings, and I couldn't pass up the chance to contribute to making our world a better place. It turns out the Lands End is donating cones of their Feel Good Yarn to the cause, with the understanding that each person who takes a cone will agree to to knit/crochet 51 blocks by mid-December. I hope I didn't bite off more than I can chew, but I said would take 2 cones...or 102 blocks. I am sure that I can find friends and neighbors to help, and what we will be doing will make two people's holiday seasons a little brighter. By the way, 49 7 by 9 blocks make one adult size afghan. In my excitement, I ran to Walmart the other day, and with the help of my daughter, who is 3, picked out 3 skeins of Red Heart so that I could get started. She picked blinding orange, mind-numbing pink, and shatter glass blue. Hopefully bright colors are okay. Since then, I have managed to crochet 10 squares.

In other news, I think that I have decided to put aside my TKGA certification for now. As a mom of two young children, I find that I have very little crafting time, and it was taking the joy out of knitting for me, when it was the only thing I was able to do. My time will come, but that time is not now.

Current projects include:

Bitterroot Shawl (the small size) for my Brother-in-law's wedding

YARN: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Woobu in Beryl

Needles: Knit Picks Nickle Plated US 6

Autumn on Shady Lane

YARN: Ella Rae Lace Merino

Needles: Addi Turbo US 6

Knitmore Girls Vanilla Sock (hereafter referred at Tonks.) These are a quest to knit socks representing characters, items and events in Harry Potter.

YARN: JitterBug

Needles: Knit Picks 2.25mm US 2

Warm-up America Afghan

YARN: Red Heart

Hook: Provo Craft Size G

10 down!!!

The Results

It has been a bit since I have posted and a lot has happened. I received feedback from my first TGKA Basics Lesson. Arenda's comments were wonderful! In general things look great, but I need to focus a bit more on my tension. I loved everything she had to say, and her gentle encouragement was inviting.

I started lesson 2 this week, and am still struggling a bit with tension but it is getting better. I love all of the things that I am learning.

Between my first and second lessons I worked on a number of smaller projects, including 2 baby blankets. I also attempted my first color-work project, a stocking. It turned out great, and I intend to make several more for other family members before the holidays.

We have a slew of family celebrations coming up in the next few weeks which has me thinking about cakes. I have decided that I want to take cake decorating classes. I have looked into a number of classes in the community, and have found several. Most, however, seem to focus on making a cake decorating business, which is far more in depth than I am looking for. I really just want to be able to make beautiful cakes for my family to enjoy, and possibly to be able to make wedding cakes for my children when they are old enough. I am thinking of taking a wilton class, and although I want to start now, I think that with my family's busy schedule, I will have to wait until the fall.

Journey Through TKGA Basics, Basics, Basics Lesson 1

This class is through TGKA and I am taking it in preparation to become a Master Knitter. The class is not required for the Master’s Program, but I would like to correct any problems with my knitting here rather than in the Master’s timeframe.

1/15 - Received the packet and instructions. excited to begin. I have orders some knitting reference books to help me through the class, but the resources included in the course are very comprehensive.

1/18 - Purchased the yarn and will cast on the first swatch while DH is taking his online graduate class.

1/19 - Finished first swatch. Simple two by two rib, bar increase and garter stitch. I am happy with the result, so I answered the questions and plan to weave in the ends and block.

1/19 - Started the second swatch, but I am getting tensioning stripes, so I reknit. Still had tensioning stripes, but blocked to see the extent of the problem.

1/20 the stripes are still there. Did some research and going to try making a striped stockinette stitch swatch is locate the problem. Found the suggestion here:http://knittsings.com/how-to-diagnose-and-fix-stockinette-tension-problems-to-improve-hand-knitting-for-tkga-swatches/

1/25 Knit the swatch and blocked it. Found that it is indeed my knit rows that are too loose, which is funny because I knit continental. I also knit a couple of other small swatches to figure out how to fix it. I found that when I relax, the knitting turns out evenly.

1/25 Cast on again for the 2nd swatch, was interrupted by life, so will continue later.

1/27 - I tried knitting the second swatch again a few times, the striping was less noticeable each time, but it is driving me crazy. I decided to set it aside, and move on to the next one. We will see what happens.
1/28 - Moved on to the third swatch. I have done right and left slanting increase before, but for some reason they just aren’t looking right. Need to do some more research before I move on.

1/30 - Snowed in today. Spent most of the morning practicing tension. I feel like I have made quite a bit of progress. I tightened up on my knit stitches and relaxed on the purl and it is much better. Every once in a while, I forget and have some striping. By afternoon, I was feeling pretty confident, so I knit the last three swatches. In general, I am pretty happy. On swatch three my left increases are a bit stretched out, even after reknitting the swatch several times. I am going to submit anyhow, and see what feedback I get. I still need to weave in ends and block. When I see the final results, I may reknit swatch 2 to reflect my changes in tension. We will see.