Kick in the Boot

A week ago Friday I took the afternoon off work to go to a class at my LYS on spinning wheel mechanics.  It was very helpful.  The teacher explained how to care for the wheel and about the different factors that go into determining the twist.  He then pulled out a bunch of different fibers and let us practice.  We started with Blue Faced Leicester, followed by Shetland, Polworth, alpaca, Polworth-silk blend and finished with pure silk. My sample is below.  I have a bit more of each fiber.  I might spin it all and then do a quick scarf.  I might just leave them all as singles and see how it turns out.

Or I could use the technique for my Navajo plied scarf.  Here it is.  It is finished except for blocking.  I'll do that today.

I finished the gauge swatch for my Custom Basic Black sweater.  I am trying to apply what I learned in Amy Herzog's Knit to Flatter class from Stitches South. Next step is to sit down with the pattern and calculate my adjustments.

That isn't going to happen just yet.  I'll admit to a bit of uncertainty and doubt.  I'm having thoughts like "I don't want to invest all that time into a project only to have it not fit right on me again."  I need to muster up the courage and dive in. While I'm trying to convince myself, I am going to work on a linen top.  I bought the linen and pattern the other week at Stitches.  It is a very simple pattern.  Two rectangles with a little patterning on the sides.  It should work up fast.

I won't be doing much more than knitting this weekend because of this.

Thursday my ankle locked up on me.  The official diagnosis is Achilles tendinitis.  It was the strangest thing.  I had been sitting at my desk working for about an hour.  I got up to retrieve something from the printer. When I took a step, I got a sharp pain on the back of my left heel.  Each step after that was excruciating.  Friday I went to a podiatrist.  I am on a course of steroids and have to wear this boot for 10 days.  I am not allowed to do any sort of exercise that involves my legs or feet.  That includes stretching.  I'm going to check out You Tube for chair aerobics.  It will make me feel like a senior citizen, but I need to do something. I'm already going stir crazy.  Fortunately it is my left foot and not my right.  I can still drive and use my spinning wheel. When I go back for my recheck, I am going to ask for advice on how to prevent this from happening in the future.  I don't want something like this to happen again.  

Spring Migration

Spring is the time for migrations.  This year I migrated south to go to Stitches South in Atlanta.  I took a couple classes and spent too much in the market.

My main reason for going was to take the Amy Herzog Knit To Flatter class.  It was fantastic.  Amy is such a great teacher and wonderful person.  She did a great job of demonstrating how fit can compliment or detract from your body.  It was a bit of an emotional challenge to have our measurements taken in class.  But she reassured all of us that we are beautiful and deserve flattering clothing.  She signed my copy of her book. She's a sweetheart!

I also took a lace knitting class from Brooke Nico.  The class talked about the different styles of lace from around the world.  Brooke had us try several styles.  My sample is below.  Starting from the right, we knit some ground fabric in the Shetland style featuring a variation of faggot stitch.  Next we knit a section of Estonian cross stitch.  I really liked how that stitch presented when blocked out a bit.  The third work was another Estonian pattern called Water Lilies.  This is a traditional pattern in Estonian knitting because of the country's geography.  The last section we knit was an Estonian flower basket pattern with nupps.  I've knit nupps before, but didn't like them because I needed to use a crochet hook on the return row.  Brooke showed us how to make the nupps looser so that they could be knit in line without grabbing another tool.   I can't say I love knitting nupps now, but I don't dislike them as much as I previously did.

Here are some of the goodies from the market. This is Valley Yarns Alpaca Silk.  This will someday become a lacy tunic.

This is Miss Babs Tarte.  I bought this because I love the name Bat****Crazy.

This Louet Euroflax sport weight will become a summer top.  My goal is to have it made by my trip to Hawaii this summer.

This Louet Euroflax laceweight is going to be a shawl for my goddaughter who is getting married next year.

And finally, this stash of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool is going to become my cardigan that I am making based upon my Knit to Flatter class. A swatch is already in progress.  I have way more than I need for the sweater so the extra will get used for something else.

I have much more to share, but no more time.  I'll save that for next week.