Fiber Week in Review: April 20-26

I've been working on an upcoming shawl collection that I don't want to reveal too much about, so there's not a whole lot to report this week.

Knitting: I'm knitting like the wind on the shawl collection. I finished the first one this week and am coming close to the end of the second one. I have five planned so three more to go to meet a June 15 deadline. If I can keep up this pace, I should make it.

Of course, that means very little time to work on anything else (like the baby blanket). I do have a pair of socks on the needles and have picked those up a little this week.

Spinning: None. *sigh*

Stash Enhancement: None. And I think I need to do some serious stash dehancement. I mentioned that last week and I think that needs to be on the agenda for this coming week. It's time to get all of the stash out and seriously decide whether or not I'm ever going to use it. Look for additions to my sale tab on Ravelry. I've also got some needles and other supplies that I should destash as well.

Designing: As already mentioned, I'm working on a collection of five shawls. I'm working with the wonderful ladies of Stitch Definition to get the collection ready in time to debut at STITCHES Texas in September. To do that, I need to get the patterns to the tech editor and the samples to the photographer by June 15. It's a tight deadline, but I know I can do it as long as I stay on track. I have written out each pattern and now just need to knit them to make sure the actual shawl works out as planned.

I do have other ideas that I want to work on, but those are on the back burner for now. The Chauntecleer Cowl is in testing and I need to send it to the tech editor and get pictures. I hope to have that ready for release in a couple of weeks so that I'll have something new coming out before too long.

Dyeing: I wanted a golden color on one of the shawls I'm designing, so I did some experimenting this week and am happy with what turned out. This will be the Yvain colorway and it's a tonal that has shades of golden brown. (I'm already putting the first skein to use!)

I also dyed some Tristan on the new Avalon (50/50 merino/silk DK weight) base. Boy, that base does not like to let go of water. I think it's going to take days to dry. I'll have to keep that in mind when I dye some for the shop.

And that's the plan in the upcoming weeks: dye up the two new bases (Avalon and Camelot which is a fingering weight MCN) so I can add them to the shop. I also need to prep some skeins for more self-striping. I got some good suggestions for color combinations, so I'm eager to try them out. It just takes a while to get the skeins ready to dye. I think I'll also develop a few new colors for spring.

I also decided to do a few updates on the Round Table Yarns website, particularly for the colorways. I wasn't happy with the way that page looked, so I split things up so each colorways gets its own page and the main page is divided into tonal/semi-solid, variegated, and self-striping colorways. That way it should be easier to see at a glance what is available, and then if you want to see more, you can go to the individual color pages.

Fiber Week in Review: April 13-19

Technically two of the days in this week in review (Monday and Tuesday) were covered in my previous post about the Strung Along Retreat. But I didn't talk about the projects I was knitting during the retreat, so there are still some updates from that time to discuss in this post.

Knitting: I did finish the Puplicious Socks before leaving for the retreat. I love them and got to wear them at the retreat. Yarn is from Brazen Stitchery.

I had dyed my first skein of self-striping sock yarn so that's what I took with me to the retreat. It has two stripes: grey and blue. They are actually the same grey and blue (Uther and Igraine) that I use for the Don't Blink Illusion kit. This colorway on the self-striping sock yarn will be Once and Future. I knit on the first sock all through the retreat and almost finished it there, but did finish it when I got back home. I haven't decided yet if this is going to be a sample sock for my booth (so one I won't be able to wear) or if I want to knit the second sock and wear them. Well, I know that I want to wear them but having a sample for my booth seems to be the wiser option. We'll see.

In the meantime, while I'm making my decision, I started a new pair of socks with some self-striping yarn from Fishknits that I picked up during DFW Fiber Fest. I haven't gotten very far on these yet.

The other project I worked on during the retreat, and finished right after getting home, was my new sample for my Lyones Cowl in my Lancelot base (Morgan le Fay colorway). I'm getting new pictures taken of some of my patterns and I wanted to change the color of the Lyones and Lyonet from yellow to red. I'd already knit Lyonet, so finishing Lyones means the set is complete.

The other major thing I've been working on this week is a new design. And this is the first item in a collection, so I'm going to be working on this collection a lot in the next two months. But I want to keep it semi-secret, so the pictures I post will be more teaser pictures than detailed ones.

And I think I never posted a finished picture of my Dorigen Cowl. I got it done just before the retreat but didn't get pictures until today. And since my son saw I was taking pictures, he wanted to be in them, so here's one with him and Dorigen.

Spinning: The spinning wheel has been gathering dust again, but yesterday I brushed it off and did about 15-20 minutes of spinning. Ah. Relaxation. I keep telling myself that I need to make time for just that 15 minutes a day (surely I can do that), but I keep being "busy." But I love the feeling of spinning so I really truly need to make it happen just a little each day.

Stash Enhancement: After everything I got at the retreat, there's no way I can do more stash enhancement for a while! I actually may need to do a little stash dehancement.

Designing: The Chauntecleer Cowl is current with test knitters and I need to send it to the tech editor soon. I also need to get some pictures taken. But I'm looking to release that pattern in about 3 weeks.

Although I have a lot of other ideas for things I want to design, my current focus is on a collection of 5 patterns. I've discussed the production of this project with Stitch Definition and have set up a production schedule (sounds so fancy!) to get all of the tech editing, layout, photography, and everything else taken care of. I need to have the patterns and samples to the tech editor and photographer in mid-June so that gives me just under two months to get those done. I'm almost finished with the first one and have the other four sketched out. But because I want to keep this project a little bit under wraps, there might be some quiet on the designing front for a while. But even if I'm not talking much about it, I'm still very much busy doing it!

And I've still got the baby blanket going. Just not much progress on it this week.

Dyeing: I have two projects I've been working on with dyeing this week. The first is to dye the yarn for the collection I'm working on so I did a bit of that (but have a little more to go). But the big news in dyeing is the self-striping sock yarn.

I totally get now why dyers love to hate self-striping yarn. It's pretty darn awesome, but it's also a pain in the ass. A giant pain because you're working with a giant skein. I've been using a warping board to set up the giant skein, which takes a while but isn't to terrible to set up. I do rather dislike putting in all the ties just because it takes quite a while (and you want a lot of ties because if this giant skein gets tangled, it's hard to recover. The actual dyeing isn't too bad. But then there's getting the yarn from the giant skein back into a regular-sized skein. Here's the true pain for me.

I tried putting it back on the warping board the first time I reskeined. I think it took me almost two hours to get it reskeined. Yeah, two hours. I've heard that some people use a warping reel to reskein but I don't currently have one of those. So I decided to try just putting the loop on the floor and gently winding into a ball. That way mostly working but I got the bright idea to use my ball winder and put it on that. But it was hard to keep tension on the winder and when I was about a quarter of the way through, I got the yarn wrapped around the gears of the ball winder. I tried to remove the yarn but it was pretty well enmeshed into the gears. I wanted to cry. I almost did. But I did a little breathing and tried to calm down and figure out how to save the yarn.

I tried removing the stem part from the base. Not happening. I noticed some screws on the bottom of the base and thought that if I removed those, I might be able to take it apart and get to the yarn. The screws were a little difficult to get out but I finally got them out--only to discover that they didn't actually allow the unit to be taken apart so I'd done all that work and still couldn't get to the yarn. More deep breathing. I finally got the yarn almost removed but couldn't figure out how to get the last two loops off. It looked like the only way to do it was to actually take the yarn through the gears. I was worried that I would damage the yarn but couldn't see any other way of going it, so I gently worked the yarn out through the gears--and it worked! I'm glad this was a sock yarn with nylon in it as I'm sure that helped to protect the yarn a bit. I examined that area of the yarn really closely and couldn't tell any difference or any defect. So I went back to winding. And hopefully put my ball winder back together correctly.

I now have two more skeins of the Once and Future self-striping ready to go (shop update planned for this Thursday evening. Join the mailing list to get specific updates). And I have another colorway currently drying (I think it's dry and I'm just avoiding the reskeining part--not sure what method I'll try this time). If you want to see that colorway before it hits the shop, join the mailing list. Otherwise, I'll post about it next week here.

As of right now, my self-striping sock yarn will have two colors. I've borrowed a 4 1/2 yard warping board from a friend and it's really only large enough to get a loop for two colors (adding more colors would mean very short repeats and I'd prefer not to do that). So it looks like I need a bigger warping board or warping reel to make bigger skeins so I can add additional colors.

I'm using a yarn base that is fingering weight with 75% merino and 25% nylon. I really wanted the heavy nylon content to help make these socks wear well. I was a little worried that the yarn might not be very soft, but after finishing the first sock and putting it on my foot, I am very very pleasantly surprised and happy. It feels super soft! I also picked a yarn with 4 plies (I saw so much sock yarn with just 2 plies) because I wanted to stitch definition to be good. This base will be the Merlin base (because self-striping yarn is magic--perhaps a little cheesy, but I like it!).

Week in Review: Strung Along Retreat

Instead of this week's Fiber Week in Review, I am doing a special review of the Strung Along Retreat, which I attended from Friday, April 10 through Monday, April 13 (returning home on Tuesday the 14th).

I had heard about the Strung Along Retreats a while back and thought that I'd like to go to one someday, but I never really seriously pursued it. One of the things I wanted to do this year is to get more involved in the fiber community in person rather than just online, which meant going to various events. I really wanted a knitting retreat to be one of those events so Strung Along was one of the ones on my list.

And then I saw the announcement for the lineup for the April retreat: Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Kate Atherley, and Clara Parkes. Um, yeah. Decision made. After talking to my husband and my friend Emily (whom I invited to go with me), Emily and I signed up for the retreat, booked airfare and room at the resort, and were ready to go. Of course, we had to wait until the date of the retreat arrived!

Thursday, Emily drove to my house (which is about 30 minutes away from the airport; she lives about 2 hours away so it was easier to catch a morning flight from my house) and we had a nice evening knitting and getting ready for our trip the next day. Friday morning, early but not insanely early, we were at the airport and after a little confusion due to construction, got checked in and to our gate. Unfortunately we didn't get to sit together on the plane, but it was a pretty good flight and we got to Seattle without any issues.

One rental car later--after we figured out how to use it (push button start and a dial to shift into reverse/drive/park)--we were on our way to Carnation on the side trip we had planned to Tolt Yarn and Wool. We were quite hungry, so we stopped by a place just down the road from the yarn shop first for lunch (where we had some lovely farm fresh foods). Then to Tolt. We had expected to like the yarn shop very much (which is why we drove in the opposite direction from the resort to go there), and we were not disappointed. In fact, it's safe to say that our expectations were exceeded. The atmosphere and decor were wonderful, the people in the shop were extremely friendly and helpful, and the yarn selection was, quite frankly, amazing. Local yarns and yarn I've seen online but not in person (such as Quince & Co). It was hard to narrow down my selections and pick some things to buy. I ended up taking home this bounty:

So excited to see Quince & Co and Hazel Knits "in the wild"; I also wanted to get some Yoth as it is from a local business.

We took a couple of pictures on our way out.

Emily and me (caught mid blink)

The picture doesn't even begin to capture the awesomeness of the shop.

 

Then we got back in the car and headed toward the ferry to Bainbridge Island, where Churchmouse Yarns is located. Well, we tried to find the ferry. Downtown Seattle right where the ferries are located was under construction and the GPS app didn't want to tell us about the construction and the signs weren't all that great, so it took us a little while to find the right place to go. But we did find it and got in line for the ferry. Unfortunately, our delay in finding the ferry meant that we missed that one and had to wait on the next. But we finally got on board. I got out of the car and walked around a bit.

Waiting in line to get on the ferry

View from the ferry

Walking around on the ferry

Ferry squinting selfie!

Ack! We're "driving" on water!

Off the ferry onto Bainbridge Island and to Churchmouse Yarns and Teas. I had seen this shop around on Ravelry a lot and was really looking forward to visiting it. And it was a very beautiful shop with a nice atmosphere. However, the selection wasn't quite as good as I had anticipated and if I had to choose, Tolt would definitely get my vote for best yarn shop on our trip. Not to say there is anything wrong with Churchmouse--and I certainly bought some yarn!--but if I wanted to go to a place to get a good variety of yarn options, I'd pick Tolt. If I was looking for a great atmosphere, I'd choose whichever shop was closer as they both had super nice people and a nice set up.

Very happy to get some breed-specific yarn, especially the one on the left, which is Border Leicester. The rest are Cotswold, Columbia, Rambouillet, and a blend of Wensleydale, BFL and alpaca.

Super cute notions bag from Dana Herbert

We ate lunch at a deli, visited a book shop, and got back in the car for the drive to Port Ludlow. It had started raining by then and it seemed that we hit rush hour traffic so the drive was quite slow, but we weren't in a hurry and had plenty of time so enjoyed the scenery on the drive. We got to the resort, got checked in, and went up to our room. The following pictures were taken at various points on the trip but all were at the resort.

The view from our balcony on a cloudy day

Looking out across the other balconies at the resort.

The back of the resort

View from our balcony on a non-cloudy day

The Resort at Port Ludlow is a nice place with super helpful staff. The rooms were pleasant with a gas fireplace and whirlpool tub. After we got settled in a little bit, we went down to the opening greeting/event. And so the retreat began. I'm not going to do a play-by-play of the entire weekend; I'm going to instead talking about things in categories.

The Other Retreaters: With 43 retreaters total, even though it's not a super huge group, I still didn't meet/talk to everyone. I'm sure I could have done that, but my introvert ways caused me to take some much-needed recharge times in the room when I could have been out socializing. We were divided into smaller groups (mine had 15) for our classes and stayed with those groups each day for class. Those are the ladies (there were two guys on the retreat but neither were in my group) that I got to know the best since I spent most of the time with them, but I did also chat with other people outside the group at meals and other times.

Retreaters waiting for dinner

All I have to say is what an amazing group of fiber artists! So many talented knitters, whether they had been knitting for over 30 years or less than 3. The show and tell on the last night was inspiring and not just for the knitted work that was displayed. I don't want to single out people because I'd feel super bad to leave someone out, but I didn't meet anyone at the retreat that I wouldn't want to see again. And I really do hope that I see many of these people again as I had a great time talking about everything from Game of Thrones to knitting (of course) and so much in between.

I do want to single out two people because I want to share their work. I met Michele, who is a fellow designer, and among other things we had a great talk about designing "just" accessories. Her Ravelry ID is pdxknitterati and I realized that I've seen her posting in the Designers forum. Check out her designs, especially her shawls like Rosaria (which she wore at the retreat and it was stunning). I also met Margaret who raises Suri Alpacas and she was so knowledgeable about the alpacas but also really cared about them and about the yarn and fiber they produced. Her enthusiasm was wonderful--and she gave each of us a skein of yarn in our goodie bags. I can't wait to use it and also to get more from her at some point.

Oh, and if I get to go back to another Strung Along Retreat, I'll come prepared to do some yarn bombing. I should have taken some pictures of the fabulous things that the other knitters left around the inn (including tiny fire extinguishers!). I only wish I had prepared something (or brought yarn and needles to create something) to leave there myself. (Other people did take some pictures, so if you're on Instagram or Twitter, check hashtag #strungalong for some great pictures.)

Kate Atherley: I read Kate's book on designing patterns and the only negative about the book is that it wasn't released a year sooner so I could have had it from the beginning of my designing. It's a helpful book and Kate is even more helpful in person. Both during her class and talk and during other times of chatting, she is such a down to earth, really wonderful person and I'm grateful that I had a chance to meet her and learn from her.

She talked to us about patterns, both reading patterns and choosing patterns (life is too short for bad patterns) and how to make adjustments on a pattern to get something that fits us and/or that matches with the gauge/materials we have. Truly, I could go into a few details of what I learned during the class time with her, but it really was a lot that I'm still processing a bit and I don't know if getting secondhand details would be anywhere near the actual experience. I will say that I felt inspired to do some more sweater knitting and also to move away from the raglan, seamless style. My next sweater (actually cardigan) that I plan to knit is going to be done in pieces with set in sleeves. I think it'll be worth the extra work with seaming.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee: Speaking of seaming, that's one of the things I learned in Stephanie's class, which was all about finishing. We also talked about blocking, how to accurately count rows, and many other details. I think that I learned the most out of her class that will have a direct impact on the actual knitting I do in the future. I also mentioned my problem with getting a good bind off (not too tight but not too loose either) and she recommended Lucy's Modified Conventional Bind Off. I tried it. Still a little tight. I went up a needle size and tried it again. Suddenly--magic. My bind off matched my cast on. I don't think that I can express quite how happy and excited that makes me feel. Now that was on a small swatch, so we'll see if it works on an actual item (in fact, I'll see soon because I have a cowl ready for binding off and cowls are my "worst offenders" for a too tight bind off). But if it does, that one piece of information may have just changed my entire "finishing" experience with my projects. (ETA: I bound off the cowl. I actually didn't need to go up a needle size after all. At first I was a little worried that the bind off was too loose, but after blocking the cowl, it all evened out and I have a cowl that stretches equally at cast on and bind off. Magic!)

Swatch using the new-to-me bind off

As for Stephanie herself, I've had the pleasure of taking some classes from her before (last year's DFW Fiber Fest), so I knew what to expect--someone who is so gracious and generous, extremely knowledgeable and passionate about sharing that knowledge. Also very down to earth and approachable. And as one of the organizers of the retreat (along with the equally fabulous Debbi Stone), she really wants to make sure each person has a wonderful experience and works extra hard to make that happen. And she's hilarious as well. (Not soap. Not cheese. Yeah, you had to be there, but super funny.)

Debbi and Stephanie on the last night (with the back of Clara's head)

Clara Parkes: So, Clara is the reason that I truly wanted to go on this retreat (Kate and Stephanie as well--they were the perfect trio). Who better to learn all about yarn from than Clara Parkes, right? I mean she wrote the book(s) on it! She also is an extremely warm-hearted down-to-earth person and funny (in a more quiet way than Stephanie but there were some points in her class that were incredibly funny--she played off our group really well). She shared her experiences with getting her yarn made (if you haven't gotten any Clara Yarn yet, go get on her mailing list and as soon as she announces one is available, buy it. It sells out almost immediately. I've been lucky enough to get Cormo 2.0 and Shetland 1.0--which actually arrived this weekend--and she really works hard to produce an incredible yarn) which also meant we learned a lot about how yarn is made.

My Shetland 1.0 which arrived while I was gone.

In her class, we talked a lot about fiber content of yarn (from natural to synthetics), the way yarn is plied, and how to decide what yarns are good for certain projects/stitches. We also got several bits of various fibers so we could feel and compare and several yarns to swatch with. I still need to wash the bit of Cormo 1.0, which she says will be quite incredible after a good wash (as she gave it to us with the spinning oils still present which is how she originally got it which does not accurately reflect the amazingness of the yarn after washing). I could listen to Clara talk about yarn all day (and for one day I did!). But again, just writing about the experience here is a poor substitute for the actual experience. I'll just say my expectations were met and then some.

Fiber samples

Swatches

Community Marketplace: On Saturday evening, we had a small marketplace with some local vendors as well as a few of us from the retreat. I'm kinda glad that I didn't get to really do my own shopping because I had already gone over budget with the two yarn store trips and I wouldn't have been able to resist spending way more that I should have at the marketplace. Instead, I set up my table with my patterns and a selection of my yarn. And that evening was the best chance I had to do some chatting with some of the other retreat goers that weren't in my group. I happily sold about half the yarn I brought (relief! I was worried about being able to fit the yarn I bought in my suitcase) and a few patterns. But talking to the other knitters was the best part of the experience. It also made my business goals of selling directly (so in person rather than online--although of course I will sell online) to knitters even more cemented because that's truly what I enjoy doing--talking to them and sharing information about my yarns/patterns and finding out what they like. Thank you to everyone who stopped by my table to chat.

My table

Debbi and Stephanie shopping (the fabulous Suri Alpaca yarns from Margaret!)

Debbi, Clara, Stephanie, and Kate along with the wonderful Michele

The Food: I admit that I was a bit worried about the food. I'm a picky eater and although I was sure the food itself would be amazing each day, I was worried that amazing or not, if it was seafood or had too many vegetables, I wouldn't like it. But I was adventurous and tried a few new things and managed to find something I liked at each meal, never feeling like I was leaving the table hungry. That means one night--where the selections involved fish, vegetables, or something I might have liked but which had mushrooms (which I really don't like)--I had to be brave. I put a piece of cod on my plate and tentatively took a bite when I got to the table. And quickly took another and another. Man, that cod was good! I guess I shouldn't paint all seafood with the same brush. I definitely don't like seafood that has a super fishy smell, but I think I can handle things like this cod that are a bit more mild. I almost went back for seconds but then saw that night's dessert and decided to have two servings of it instead (it involved chocolate). And apparently I took no food pictures!

The Goodie Bag: So many generous people donated items for our goodie bags as well as our "appetizer" on the final evening. From yarn to patterns to notions and a few things in between, we were definitely spoiled! Debbi posted about each one on the Strung Along Facebook page if you want more information.

Main goodie bag. I didn't include the postcards/business cards which have codes for patterns or apps (because I didn't want to risk giving away the codes), so this is just a small part of what we got.

Lavender sachet kit

Appetizer on the final evening

Whew! What a whirlwind of a long weekend. Intense learning in classes and intense fun as well. I definitely recommend this retreat if you're looking for one to go to. They take place 3 times a year and have different themes each time. But make sure to register early as it fills up fast (the November retreat is already full and has a waitlist).

Good-bye Port Ludlow!

But it was nice to get home to this smiling face!

Now to catch up and get back to the regular routine!

Fiber Week in Review: March 30-April 5

This week I spent another big chunk of time working on an editing project. It's the follow-up to a book that I edited last year and a project that I've really been looking forward to working on because I highly enjoyed the first book. The second book is also quite good. If you like epic medieval fantasy, you should give the books a try. The first is A Call to Arms and the second (about a month out from its release date now) is Nightfall.

That being said, I didn't get as much fiber stuff done as I would have liked, but progress was made on a couple of projects.

Knitting: I did about another inch or two of the Purplicious socks. I'll be taking those to my knitting group tonight and also working on them when my son has his Little Gym class on Wednesday. I want to finish them before I leave on Friday (more on that at the end of the blog) so I can have a new pair of socks on the needles.

The only other knitting I did this week was to work on the new cowl design. And last night I finished it! I'm happy with how it turned out (although my bind off it a bit too tight) but still need to weave in the ends and block it.

Designing: Wrote up the cowl pattern and after I get measurements, I'll set up a test knit for it (see my group on Ravelry for more details).

My next designing goal is to truly get started working on the shawl collection. I'll continue to knit on the baby blanket and will get that test set up fairly soon as well, but I want to get this shawl collection going especially while I'm still excited about it. In fact, it's my quarterly goal that I've made as part of the Map-Making Guide from Tara Swiger.

Dyeing: I dyed two skeins, one each of two new bases (MCN fingering and merino/silk DK). I'm loving how both bases took the color. Now I just need to knit with them. Once I've done that and feel like they are indeed right for Round Table Yarns, I'll start dyeing more and have them ready for a future update. That might be about a month or so off.

MCN on the left (in a new colorway) and merino/silk DK on the right (in Tintagel)

I also tried something else that I've been wanting to do for a while. The dyeing experience was good. The yarn is still drying. It'll be the next thing on the needles after it dries. I'm super excited about it but want to make absolutely sure it's working well before I say anything more about it. So I'll just leave this cryptic description for you.

Strung Along Retreat: On Friday, I'll be leaving for the Strung Along Retreat. I've been wanting to go to one of these and when I saw the lineup for this one (Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Clara Parkes, and Kate Atherley), I knew this was the one. I asked a friend if she was interested in going and before we knew it, we were signed up and had our plane tickets.

I'm not bringing my laptop with me (but will have my phone so can check email). As a result, next week's Week in Review post won't be posted on Monday (I don't return until Tuesday). Instead, on Wednesday, I'll write a post about the retreat.

And if you're anywhere in the area (Seattle--Port Ludlow), there is a Community Marketplace on Saturday evening from 6:30-8:30. I'll have some of my patterns and yarn there, so even if you're not a retreater, you can still come to that event if you'd like to see patterns/yarn in person.