Pointy Sticks

For the past few years I've been edging myself towards the possibility of knitting socks. My main obstacle was the fact that I normally knit with one needle tucked under my arm. If you think about the geometry, you will soon find that there's no way to make a circle of knitting with an armpit in the middle. Believe me!

This year I've done several small projects on circular needles. That's been ok. So, now for the challenge of double pointed needles. Four of them:
Please note: this is not a sock. If all goes well, it will be a little wrist warmer. I like to break my challenges down into small, small steps. For the first few rows I was constantly dodging and rearranging needles. Now I've got a bit more of a rhythm going, but it's still rather awkward. It seems as though there's more bulk of needles than actual knitting in my hands. Come to think of it, I guess there is. So, I'm persisting. I'm given to understand--isn't that a great cop out phrase!--that if I just keep knitting along, I'll eventually stop worrying about the four pointy sticks I'm holding and get back to enjoying the knitting. OK, knitting, knitting, knitting . . .

Wool to the Rescue

Earlier this week I vented some of my frustration at the bamboo fibre I was attempting to spin. I'm proud to say, I persisted with it. That sample is done. I even did two versions in the hope of finding a better technique. But it was not to be. Whether I carded it or folded it, the bamboo fibre remained slippery, short and hard to handle. It was a little easier to manage when I folded it over my finger and controlled it with both hands, but I never got to love it.

For my next challenge I have a bamboo-wool blend. After my experience with the pure bamboo, I wasn't looking forward to it. I carefully read the requirements. There was no indication of how much bamboo has to be in the blend. OK, so it's legitimate to use a wool-rich blend. Great! Here it is: 70% wool and 30% bamboo. That's a fair enough blend. The bamboo is definitely there--it's the white stuff in the pic above. Carded on my fine hand carders and just about spun up already. I stopped before spinning this last bit so I could take a shot and post it. The mix behaves like an easy flowing carded wool. Occasionally theres a bit with more bamboo than average and it slips a little. I've had only one breakage. Oh, so much easier. As to the purpose of 30% bamboo in a wool-blend. I dunno! Novelty? White highlights?--I'd rather have silk! Because it's on the list and I have to do it to get to the finish line? That's honest at least.

Back to my wheel. If I can complete the spinning, ply and finish this skein this morning there will be four more on my list. And now I can look forward to the helping hand of wool in two of them.

Feeling Foolish

Yesterday I complained that my Powershot camera was suffering from a disturbance and making whirring noises--great technical terms those. I got myself out of trouble with another camera and immediately went into problem-solving mode. Strange phenomenon: I can live with all sorts of undone tasks, but a problem with my camera prompts instant action! I rang Canon's support line and spoke to a technician. I figured I'd make sure there wasn't some obvious error on my part before going down the warranty-repair path. I described what the camera was and wasn't doing. The technician sounded serious, and said I should send it in for repair. By that time there wasn't much left of my morning. I had to get to my regular Monday afternoon appointment by public transport and there was no way I was going to get to the camera store as well. That turned out to be a good thing. I'm guessing that my subconscious was worrying away at the problem while I was otherwise occupied, because when I got home, I suddenly thought of this:
Yep, batteries! Usually when my camera runs out of juice it gives a simple command on the screen, "please change the batteries". Admittedly there was no such signal and the camera apparently did have power because there were lights and movement. I wasn't long since I'd changed the batteries either, but I usually use rechargables and these were everday disposable batteries. It couldn't hurt to try. So out with the old batteries and in with a fresh pair. Now the camera works fine! That's a good thing and I'm glad I got to feel foolish in the privacy of my own home.

Better News

Alright, so I'm an addict who can't do without my pic fix. The Powershot Camera which is my daily companion is suffering from some sort of disturbance, but I do have a dSLR. I've been too lazy to use it much lately, but thankfully it's all good. I've pulled it out, dusted it off and taken this morning's picture: The original yellow-green in the foreground, the new blue-green in the background. And there's enough to make an itty bitty scarf or some wrist warmers.

What's more, I've searched through my folders and boxes and managed to track down the warranty for my Powershot. Now I just need to get myself to the store on Bell St and hopefully it will be up and running again soon. Meanwhile, I might just refresh some of my SLR skills.

Drat!

My camera's playing up, so I can't post the picture of the overdyed wool-silk yarn I wanted to show off today. The yarn is leftover from the Engagement Gift blanket. I have several odds and ends in that bag. They'll be great for making cosy little winter accessories, but it wouldn't be fair to expect some-one to wear a leftover bit of blanket, however nice the yarn might be, so I'm spicing them up in the dyepot. This hank has morphed from a lime green to a strong emerald green with the addition of Landscape sky blue, but the camera just makes whirring noises. So, sorry, no pic. And I must add getting the camera fixed to the list of things to do in the next few days. Drat!

B*#@%* Bamboo

Bamboo: not currently on my favourites list. Here's my little pile of discarded, broken ends from the first 8g or so of my spinning:

• OK, so it's glossy and white with good drape and inherent antibacterial properties.


• OK, so the plant grows quickly and is incredibly versatile.


• But--it's a pain to spin! It's slippery, doesn't hold twist well and breaks easily;


• And at the end of the day, the yarn doesn't make me sit up and take notice.

I have to finish this sample of bamboo alone, then do a sample of bamboo-wool blend. The bad news is that I then have to do the same for soy and tencel, and I expect them to behave in about the same way. All three are semi-synthetic cellulose fibres. My vote is that they should just stay in the factory where they've been chemically broken down before being extruded into fibres. They can just go ahead and form a yarn there, without coming out half prepared to tease and frustrate a spinner's fingers. So! On the other hand, bamboo does take dye particularly well, so maybe, just maybe it will redeem itself.

Infinite Filament

I bought this reel of silk filament at a clearance sale, I don't know how many years ago: I've used it a lot. Mainly to ply with. This morning I used it to ply the last of my angora-merino drop-spindle yarn. As if it wasn't delicious enough already! The strange thing is the reel never seems to get any smaller. Of course I didn't weigh it when I first brought it home. It was part of a boxload of stuff and I'm sure I only paid a couple of dollars for it. It isn't really infinite and maybe if I live long enough to spin up all the fibre I have at my house I'll eventually get to the end of it. But meanwhile, there it is in its fine magenta lustre waiting to be added to one more skein