Musings of the last month or so
Yes, so what's this, you ask?
It's my latest spinning adventure. Having recovered from Alden Amos Syndrome (the fear of being ridiculed by him for having a double-treadle wheel and using spinning techniques he would scoff at), I recently got back into spinning after the temporary "spinning blues." Every skein I make is better, and I'm really pleased with the way this one turned out. I thought the combinations of colors in both spinning and plying would produce a puke-like color overall, but I see now that I was wrong. Meg took this picture, as she thought I needed an artsy closeup of my newly-created yarn.
So about a month ago, I did something funky to my right hand while playing the fiddle at an extremely long gig, and whatever it is has taken awhile to heal. I can finally fiddle again without pain. I still have to be careful about knitting, as that seems to aggravate it more, though I can gradually feel my hand getting stronger as the days pass. This has contributed to my recent lack of posting, though the intensity of my day job has grown immensely as well, which means I want to spend even less time in front of a computer when I get home.
So this is Spearhead Sock #1, completed. Spearhead Sock #2 will be the exact color negative. I have gotten a few rows into the second sock, but have been working on a few other things.
Meg insisted on taking another closeup.
In other news, we decided to go to Asheville this year for vacation, partly because we had some other matters to attend on the way, partly because we have always wanted to go. The trip did not fail to disappoint. For those of you unfamiliar with Asheville, it is a lovely town filled with arts and crafts of all types, musicians, and lots and lots of contra dancers. Every night we either found ourselves dancing or playing tunes at Jack of the Wood, a local pub with a unique atmosphere and appreciative crowds. The first two nights we stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast called the Wright Inn in the Montford Historic District. I highly recommend it.
What struck me most about Asheville, however, wasn't the town, but the people we met in the town. We ran into about six people that we knew but were not expecting to see. Almost all of them did not actually live in Asheville (one of them had just moved to the area 24 hours before). Many were visiting to scope out the area to see if it was a place they could live. Strangely enough, the three people we thought we would run into we didn't see at all.
There are some great yarn stores down there. One of them is called the Earth Guild, which sells just about everything crafty you could think of. Meg purchased some difficult-to-find supplies for indigo dyeing. I noticed that it's much easier to find roving at yarn stores in Asheville than up here, so I ended up purchasing some merino multi-colored roving (the new yarn pictured above).
Here's a sock I'm working on that doesn't have a name yet, other than Sock for Susan. It's essentially a 2x2 rib, except that every fourth row is completely purled.
A very cute picture of Border Collie puppies we saw at the Saline Celtic Festival last weekend. Seriously, who doesn't like wee fuzzy dogs? One of them fell asleep in the food bowl.
And, by the way, Meg is pulling your leg about the plain stockinette sweater on big needles that she thinks I am knitting. See, it may look like plain stockinette to the naked eye, but in reality, it's an advanced technique I learned from a vagrant on the streets of Asheville. Only a trained eye can tell the difference.
It's my latest spinning adventure. Having recovered from Alden Amos Syndrome (the fear of being ridiculed by him for having a double-treadle wheel and using spinning techniques he would scoff at), I recently got back into spinning after the temporary "spinning blues." Every skein I make is better, and I'm really pleased with the way this one turned out. I thought the combinations of colors in both spinning and plying would produce a puke-like color overall, but I see now that I was wrong. Meg took this picture, as she thought I needed an artsy closeup of my newly-created yarn.
So about a month ago, I did something funky to my right hand while playing the fiddle at an extremely long gig, and whatever it is has taken awhile to heal. I can finally fiddle again without pain. I still have to be careful about knitting, as that seems to aggravate it more, though I can gradually feel my hand getting stronger as the days pass. This has contributed to my recent lack of posting, though the intensity of my day job has grown immensely as well, which means I want to spend even less time in front of a computer when I get home.
So this is Spearhead Sock #1, completed. Spearhead Sock #2 will be the exact color negative. I have gotten a few rows into the second sock, but have been working on a few other things.
Meg insisted on taking another closeup.
In other news, we decided to go to Asheville this year for vacation, partly because we had some other matters to attend on the way, partly because we have always wanted to go. The trip did not fail to disappoint. For those of you unfamiliar with Asheville, it is a lovely town filled with arts and crafts of all types, musicians, and lots and lots of contra dancers. Every night we either found ourselves dancing or playing tunes at Jack of the Wood, a local pub with a unique atmosphere and appreciative crowds. The first two nights we stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast called the Wright Inn in the Montford Historic District. I highly recommend it.
What struck me most about Asheville, however, wasn't the town, but the people we met in the town. We ran into about six people that we knew but were not expecting to see. Almost all of them did not actually live in Asheville (one of them had just moved to the area 24 hours before). Many were visiting to scope out the area to see if it was a place they could live. Strangely enough, the three people we thought we would run into we didn't see at all.
There are some great yarn stores down there. One of them is called the Earth Guild, which sells just about everything crafty you could think of. Meg purchased some difficult-to-find supplies for indigo dyeing. I noticed that it's much easier to find roving at yarn stores in Asheville than up here, so I ended up purchasing some merino multi-colored roving (the new yarn pictured above).
Here's a sock I'm working on that doesn't have a name yet, other than Sock for Susan. It's essentially a 2x2 rib, except that every fourth row is completely purled.
A very cute picture of Border Collie puppies we saw at the Saline Celtic Festival last weekend. Seriously, who doesn't like wee fuzzy dogs? One of them fell asleep in the food bowl.
And, by the way, Meg is pulling your leg about the plain stockinette sweater on big needles that she thinks I am knitting. See, it may look like plain stockinette to the naked eye, but in reality, it's an advanced technique I learned from a vagrant on the streets of Asheville. Only a trained eye can tell the difference.
Comments
Love the blue yarn from the indigo experiments, too!
Love the Spearhead sock! Love love love!