Just a quick update..

The socks are done! Off the needles, ends sewn in and they just need blocking, except of course, I rarely block socks. Generally I just wash them and either lay them flat to dry or hang them on the line. That won't happen for a day or two more because it's been rainy and cold!

The shetland yarn is plied and off the wheel. It's not really super soft yarn and I need to spin up a bit more of it to have a useful amount. I don't however have an immediate plan for it, just the need to spin something. Now there is some white shetland at the top of the queue. It's somewhat coarse fibre, but since it's for dyeing samples, it will be perfect. Normally I don't like to spin yarn to sample with as it just seems to be more economical to buy a skein for $5 instead of spending 10 hours spinning enough 2 ply to sample with. I'm doing it this time because I don't actually have a convenient place to buy any before I need it and really don't want to spend half a day running into the city for a skein of yarn!

The seeds are starting to sprout. The Marigolds won the race for tray one, followed closely by the English Thyme. The Oregano and Summer Savory tied for third and the Borage, Winter Savory. The various tomatoes, Brandywine, Yellow Pear, Misc. Cherry tomato and mixed Heirloom tomatoes are just starting to show and the Lovage is in dead last place, for germination speed.

I direct planted a bunch of woad into the garden on just before we had a few days of rain. Yesterday we had a river in the backyard because of the amount of rain, which of course ran right through the woad bed. If it doesn't show any sign of growth in a week or so, I'll presume that the seeds have washed down across the yard and into the neighbour's bean fields.

Lots of garden, little bit of fibre

It was a busy weekend, with glorious weather. Really, the weather dictated the activities... outside ones because I really couldn't justify hiding inside. The blueberry bushes got planted. That required digging holes... a trip to town to find the one store which actually had composted sheep manure already in stock - and it was on sale, and then planting, realizing they were going to get run over by a lawnmower because they are still very small, hunting for sticks to mark them with and then being forced to drink cool drinks in the shade because it was 24C and sunny. The only disappointing part of the blueberry planting was the number of white grubs I found and killed while digging the holes. I think we might need to get some nematodes and treat the lawn.. not because I really care about a perfect lawn, but because I hate the damage they do and even more, I hate the June Bugs they become... shudder...

We pruned the pear trees or tried to. Better late than never I hope. It doesn't look like the trees have been pruned much if at all. The one had two limbs which we removed which was easily within the 1/4 - 1/3 maximum of limb removal recommended when pruning pear trees. One branch was going to to die anyways in the next few years at the previous own had tied nylon string on it and the bark had grown around it and was cutting through. The other was a centre branch, which will now hopefully allow more sun to hit the rest of the tree. The second tree is older. We hadn't noticed before just how bad it is. It turns out there is almost no heartwood left and there are large openings in several places on the trunk. We're going to have to removed that tree and will hopefully replace it with something else. Not another pear tree though... maybe apricot or apple. The kids suggested a cherry tree, but I think you need two different varieties for germination and I've no idea where we could put a second one.

I got most of the seeds planted... 2/3 is most right? I still have a couple of herbs, the blue dye and yellow plants to start. All the flowers are started though. They will go in the perennial beds, to replace the volumes of oriental poppies and odd green, non-flowering filler plants. The onions and leeks have been started in milk cartons, mainly so that I can add a bit of soil to the leeks as they grow and start the blanching process while their seedlings. The onions were just victims of circumstance, since I had a milk carton handy when planting them. The flowers are in peat pots which can be divided in half when planting and the madder seeds are in peat pellets. Before they are planted properly I'll have to rip off the netting so the roots can grow unconfined. I forgot to do that on one plant before and it had the most weird, twisted root system, which was intertwined with the netting..

The chicks are ordered, the building of the coop room has begun. There's nothing like a deadline to speed up a progress of a project.
The new socks are coming along nicely. So pretty and my worry about the pattern being a tad too floofy was totally unjustified. It's beautiful and comfortable.

Happy April

Today I started a new pair of socks using the Christmas Sock Yarn. Because it was special sock yarn.. indie dyer, really nice, soft, smooshy yarn, I wanted a special pattern. I chose Cookie A's Monkey. It's a lace pattern and requires a bit more thinking to keep the pattern flowing. It's definitely not mindless knitting, though it isn't difficult. I needed to go with really tiny needles though as the yarn was too sproingy for the gauge. I cobbled a set of 5 dpns together from different sources as there were none that tiny in the local area stores. Did you know that size is also useful for making tiny viscose ringlets for tiny porcelain dolls?

There is some blue merino on the Ashford Traveller. It was roving dyed with Dyer's Knotweed. Possibly some that was dyed in an Indigo Sig Vat - urine reduction process, because when moving, it all went into one bag. Right, like I really thought I could remember which was which.. ha!

On the Kromski is some natural coloured Shetland. This is a two ply. There are two half bobbins left to ply up. I didn't use the Jumbo bobbin as I didn't feel like changing out the flyers.

Our weather has been insanely mild and sunny for April. The spring bulbs are coming up and I noticed today that the birch tree is blooming. Some of the trees look like they're about to leaf out already! I found these under a patch of leaves. I thought we hadn't any crocuses here, but I was wrong.. not many though. This fall I will plant more.

OMG! So Much FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today, five friends and I ran away from home for an afternoon playing in the mud. Well, first we went to a charming tea room for lunch. Then we played in the mud! It was a pottery play date for adults! There were 3 stations and we split into groups of two and rotated. We had instruction in three different techniques, decoration, slab plates and throwing pots on a wheel.

The first lesson for Ceinwen and I was the decorating a bowl. We got to design and paint a pre-made, bisque fired bowl. Mine was fairly simple with a vine of leaves around the outside and this little blob inside. Ceinwen did the cutest kitties on hers! It was neat to see all the finished bowls because you could tell from the decoration, who did which bowl!
Throwing pots on the wheel concerned me a tad. The only other time I tried it, it was on a home-made wheel with excessive vibrations that I found arm-numbing. The potter's wheels we used were much nicer, with no vibration and it was so much easier and so much more enjoyable as well.

These pieces are Ceinwen's and mine. I have two more, a thrown plate and a tumbler. The lovely instructor, Lou said she'd apply a handle to the tumbler to turn it into a mug, which she doesn't normally do. One piece will be glazed and the rest we'll get as bisque fired pieces that we will have to find a way to get glazed and fired on our own.
This was a blast of brilliant fun! I want to do more!

If you ever need a fun afternoon out for 6-10 people, I highly recommend Lou and company at Lou Hanson Pottery in Dundas, On. The have a lovely studio kitty as well as a couple of placid Newfoundland dogs who ignored us all!

Socks and Gauge, project updates

A friend was knitting a pair of lovely lacy socks. I loved how the design took a self-patterning sock yarn and made it look varigated instead of faux fair isle. Very cool indeed! When she saw my rather utilitarian green socks, she commented that I my knitting gauge was tight.. gauge being the number of stitches per inch. Of course when I got home, I whipped out the tape measure to check.
Gauge is determined by the yarn, the size of the needles and how much tension you have on the yarn as you're knitting. Gauge is important to know if you're trying to make an item to size. If you have more stitches per inch than the is required, your item could be too small and if there are less stitches per inch, your item will be too large. You can do some size adjustments, just by changing the gauge or like with the black mittens, I knew I needed more stitches to make a larger item, which is a second way of increasing size, using the same gauge.. More's the pity, I didn't in that project.

In the case of socks, often a rather tight gauge is specified. Most sock yarn is rather thin, requiring more stitches per inch, just because it's skinny. As well, sometimes you'll hear people complain about being able to feel the bumbs on the sole of the foot and a tight gauge will get rid of that problem. Apparently, a sock woven at a tighter gauge will keep it's shape longer and wear out more slowly as well. If a pair of socks costs me $15 - $20 in materials and 20 hours in labour, I want it to last!

So back to the green socks. The yarn called for 7 stitches per inch. The sock pattern called for 8.5 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch. I know that a sock, with that weight of yarn, cast on with 60 stitches, and knit at 8 stitches per inch, will get a sock that fits me nicely and be dense enough to be long wearing and comfy. With a size 2.75 mm needle, I got the 8 stitches per inch, which is what it measured out to be. According to my yarn... too tight... according to my pattern, too loose.... according to me, just right! hmmmmm I see a little blonde curly haired lass or three bears helping me with that one.

By the way, the Kitchener stitch toe, was perfect first time round! Not only did it get done painlessly, but it looked lovely too. I am happy because I have another comfy and pretty pair of socks. The yarn I dyed knit up with lovely colour varigation and absolutely no colour pooling at all.. Now if I could only find a way to photograph the socks without having to curl my toes and stand oddly to balance! (I finished the green socks yesterday!)

Next is to find the perfect pattern for the copper sock yarn. I've been looking but nothing has screamed knit me yet.

I'm spinning up some Mioget Shetland rovings. Its a soft light brown colour.

The leek and onion seeds have been started. I probably should have done it last week, but got busy. Next week I can start the rest of the plants. I may need to get some large buckets of water in the greenhouse to help moderate the night time temps. My grandfather used manure, which gave off heat as it composted. I don't have that luxury right now, but buckets of water will heat up during the day and release heat at night, protecting my seedlings. Until then, I'll start them in the house.

The area in the barn is cleaned and we'll be starting to build the chook pen. Right now it will be for all the chicks and by next year, I'm hoping to have a separate brooder area for new chicks/meaties while the layer chooks will have their own pen and outside run.

Colours of March

March is normally, grey, snowy and windy here... but the seasons have been confused lately, with last summer sort of passing us by and this winter missing us completely. Regardless, the unseasonably warm March weather has been welcome and the sunshine a blessing. I welcome the warmer weather because I absolute love hanging my laundry outside. It's one of those weird housekeeping tasks I enjoy... not tossing it in a dryer, but hanging it on the line. I'm happy to have a clothes line again!

Two weeks ago, I was able to hang my laundry out. It was a glorious day and while it was still below freezing when I hung it out, it was warm enough to do so. My rule of thumb is that I won't hang it out if my fingers stiffen up and get too cold from the temps. On the farm though, the neighbour was always a tad disdainful that I stopped in late October and didn't start back until the spring, as she hung hers out all winter!


Just a few days ago, it was already gloriously warm in the morning when I hung it out! And no snow! I was at the farm yesterday and they still had just a bit of snow, but then it's neither here nor there since they had snow fall on Saturday and we had it as freezing rain Sunday morning.


The only things in bloom yet are the Maple trees. Somehow I think it is too early for them to flower, but they are already! I loved the colour of the sky at this moment.



Because nothing is blooming yet.. the daffodils have only just awoken from their winter slumber and have stretched only about an inch towards the sky, I had to go with some artificial colour this year. Pots of forced Hyacinth bulbs have been on sale this year. They are one of my favourite bulbs for both their colour and aroma. This one was sitting right beside my loom. mmmm

Toe Grafting

Or Stupid Kitchener Stitch...

It was nice that a certain Lord Kitchener, commander of some sort in the British Army figured out a way to seam sock toes so that it wouldn't irritate the tootsies... It's the part of sock making that I dislike the most. It should be the exciting bit at the end, because once it's done, you can wear the sock... but I find it frustrating and fussy.
I finished one of the green socks on the weekend. It's the sock yarn I dyed myself with acid dyes. I was pleased with the skein right out of the pot, happy when it was re-skeined into a normal sized skein and am thrilled with how it knit up - no colour pooling at all! However, I had to unstitch that stupid toe grafting 3 or 4 times before I got it to a level of acceptability. I should have expected it, since I had to tink a couple of rows at one point and go back with a crochet hook at another to catch a rather annoying slipped stitch that was irking me to no end. I'm still not totally happy with the toe grafting, but I know when I have to live with the results so I won't be doing it again.

I've always avoided trying the toe up sock method. I like the order in which a cuff down sock is made and I like doing heels that way as well, but I think the next pair will be just that! Toe up.. Sorry Lord Kitchener, I'm just not using your stitch on the next pair!