Strings & Yarn

If you listen to Cast On, you know about the knitting wikia.  This is a place where hopefully we will all be able to share our knowledge about knitting.  I’ve done a few edits myself, but I started thinking about it, and decided that if we had a Knitting Wikapedia, we needed a Spinning Wikapedia as well.  I just started the Spinning Wikia as a trial in Scratchpad, but the sooner we add to it, the sooner it will grow up to be a real wikia.  These are articles that I think will be especially helpful to beginning and advanced spinners.

• An article on each type of fiber, the length of the staple, the speed in which it needs to be spun, etc.
• An article on each type of spinning wheel, not necessarily brands, but types - saxony, castle etc.
• An article on drop spindles, including what different weights of spindles are good for which yarns.
• An article on each type of plying.
• An article on the history of spinning
• An article on spinning in different areas of the world.
• An article on spinning color and how to achieve different effects.

If you haven’t checked out the knitting wiki, please do, and contribute where you can.  Also please post about this on your blogs to get the word out.  I really think we can get a much larger body of knowledge in one place, which would be fantastic.

Note:  If you want to write about something that you read somewhere, that’s fine.  Just treat it like you would a paper, and site your sources at the end.  Sources include books, websites, blogs, etc.  Check out the tutorial for help on formatting.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I don’t have to do any school work today!  Although, it will be the only day this weekend.  We go to a friends for Thanksgiving so we only need to cook a few things, then enjoy the feast.  So I made some homemade sweet potato rolls, Anthony put together sweet potatoes glazed with cranberry burbon sauce, and we’re taking Vanilla scented mulled cider.  Mmmm…

While cooking the rolls we decided we needed a little something just for us.  We made up a loaf of Chocolate Cherry Stout Bread.  It’s amazing!  We used Rouge’s Chocolate Stout for the beer, Ghirardelli Bittersweet, and cran-cherries.  Both of the bread recipes were from Cooking Light 2004.  If you haven’t checked out these books/magazines, you absolutely must.  All of the recipes are fantastic.

Hope you’re all have a fantastic day!

I’m really in the thick of it now.  School is going full force and I’ve got many things I should be doing instead of blogging, but I need a little break.  So here we are, talking a little music talk.  Because that’s all I have for you right now.
This weekend I did a little extra credit by watching Der Ring des Nibelungen  or  the Ring Cycle, with some of my classmates and peers.  We showed up at our professors house around noon on  Saturday, and luckily we had already watched Die Walkure for class.

For those who are not familiar with The Ring Cycle, this is the largest opera.  It’s like completing a marathon for opera watchers/performers.  Usually when it’s performed, the four operas are presented on four consecutive nights.  We were going to do three of the four in one day.  Each opera is about four hours long with very few breaks.  Most of the time the melodies are not particularly memorable, and sometimes the characters sing about the same thing for thirty minuets, just to make sure you understand how they feel.  Many people enjoy picking out all of the things Tolkien borrowed for The Lord of the Rings, but the plot/characters are not nearly as accessible or interesting.  That is unless you really relate with incestuous relationships.

So why would I submit myself to this?  I felt like it was a right of passage.  Every music student should have to suffer through the Ring Cycle at some point (Did I say suffer? I didn’t mean that).  Often times people describe it as a bonding experience.  I figured it may be the last opportunity I had to do this as a student.

Well, we didn’t quite finish.  We got through Siegfried but didn’t watch  Götterdämmerung.  We got kicked out with full credit.  Which was fine, because I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.

It’s not that I hate Wagner.  No, I know he has contributed  a lot towards the traditions of performance today.  The Bayreuth is close to how our concert halls are built now (just a little more uncomfortable), and the lights dim at show time because of him.  But Listening to that much un-melodic opera would be hard for any brain.  It’s okay, you can just trust me on that one.

So last night I took your advice and decided to do something fun, and most importantly not feel guilty about enjoying it instead of working.  I went to the Knit Shop and sat around to knit and talk.

I took my coral crossing sweater, which is coming along nicely, and enjoyed the company, and the zen of being around that much yarn.  It was good for the soul.

I also took the opportunity to ask the local knit doctor/master, Sandra, about my lace Icarus stole, and why it had not kept it’s blocking.  She asked what fiber I had used.  As it turns out Alpaca will not hold blocking as much as wool.  It’s not that it unblocks completely, the pattern just isn’t as open as it would be with wool.

Just a little something to keep in mind if you are picking yarn for a lace pattern.  Although (and you’ll see this once I get pictures up) I stil love the way my Icarus looks, even though it doesn’t lay completely flat.  I have been wearing it all the time and I love it’s soft warm snuggly feeling.

I got a lot done yesterday, and will be finishing up some assignments today, so I feel much more on top of things.  Thanks for all of the wonderful comments.

I feel like Rosie the Riveter!  I just replaced the headlight in my car and drained the water out of the working headlight.  I know that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but last time I tried to do this it took me three hours.  Since then I’ve always had someone else do it.  When I went to the dealership and learned that it would cost a whopping $84 and an hour of sitting around to do both jobs, I decided to just buy the $16 lamp.

The big deal… it took me less than an hour.  Ha!  Now I can see again while I drive at night.

I know I’ve been in a huge blogging rut. Nothing around here has been terribly interesting.  It’s not that Anthony and I haven’t been doing a ton of cool things, it’s just that I haven’t felt like blogging my life.  Partially because I don’t have digital camera (I don’t get to show off all the cool knitting stuff) right now, and partially because everything going on seems to feel negative even though its not.  Really it just stems from my hatred of classes.  I thought it wouldn’t be so bad this year, but it turns out I really am just tired of school.  I am so tired of feeling like I’m doing everything for my professors, or just because I have to jump through the hoops.  I’m so ready to be doing things for myself.  Learning things that I choose to and focusing on what is important to me.  I am so lucky that I have the students I do, otherwise I might quit all together.  I love teaching my students, and I’m looking forward to when that is more of a full time gig.
I just cleaned out 49 comments of spam that were being held in moderation.  I don’t want to fish for comments, but I could really use the encouragment right now.  Just to help get me through these last few weeks of school (or the rest of the year).

Another concert coming up this Sunday 11/19/06 at 3:00 pm in Beall.

• Stravinsky - Firebird Suite 1919
• Parry - Suite for String Orchestra
• Mozart - French Horn Concerto

I have two more weeks of school after this week. Luckily one of them is Thanksgiving week, otherwise I’m not sure I would survive. If I wasn’t two terms away from graduating I think I would seriously consider quiting. Heck, I’ve seriously considered it even when I’m this close.

I’m actually really pleased with this concert though, so if you are in the Eugene area consider coming. The tickets are very resonable ($5-$7) and we have worked hard. Hence the slightly broken state I feel right now. I’ll get over it in a few weeks.

One of the podcasts that I try to listen to and keep up on is NPR Story of the Day. A few days ago (right after the election) they had a clip on Rock Paper Scissors. I have to say, I think this makes knitters and their huge stash acquisitions look completely normal. There is actually a World Rock Paper Scissor Society. Who knew?

I’ve been knitting up a quick pair of socks for a friend out of Essential Knitpicks Sock Yarn this weekend and I’m loving it! I’m doing two at a time, toe up, and am attempting to finish them for Tuesday. They are for our friend Jon, who has helped us so much with moving and fixing our house. His birthday is Tuesday, and just seemed time to give a special gift for all of his help.

I have to say though that this yarn has gone beyond what I expected. It is so soft, the color is fabulous and I you can’t say no to the price. I only got a few balls so that I could check it out, but I’m seeing a new Knitpicks order in the near future. Hopefully they hold up as well as they knit up.

Blocking Lace is supposed to be a magical process right? You give your knitting it’s first bath, lay it out to dry watching as the pattern you put hours of work into opens up. I blocked lace for the first time with my finished Icarus, and it was magical. Just like a first time should be.

It was much larger than I had expected, or thought I wanted. It turns out though that the large Icarus fits beautifully around my neck and shoulders giving plenty of room to stay put. I hate having to fiddle with a scarf, or shawl all the time to get it to stay on the way I want it. I have endless possibilities of ways to wear my beautiful shawl and have already received many complements.

So why do I sound like I’m unsatisfied? It’s because my lace is un-blocking. After it’s first wear I started noticing the feathery edges bunching up to their old ways. I have worn Icarus almost all week wanting to stay warm and show it off. I had been dreaming of wearing it the whole time I knit it up, imagining the what outfits I would match it with. The yarn I chose looks stylish, yet elegant and it goes with just about everything. The small peaks that I carefully pinned out are almost gone, and the feathers are more distinguished than when they were fresh off the needles, but not blocked my any means.

Do you have to reblock items often when you wear them all the time? Does this mean I should only wear my lace for special occasions and leave it carefully stored to preserve its blocking otherwise? Is there some secret to blocking that I don’t realize? It looked so beautiful all laid out on the futon (It barely fit, and I wish I had a picture, but I’m still lacking a camera). I’m not being careful enough when I wear it? I’m just not sure if this is common, or if I did something wrong.

I couldn’t help myself.  I was a little swapped out because of my mixed success previously, but I’m going to give it another try.  I’ve enjoyed putting together all of my swap packages though, so it’s been worth it.  Plus I did get some kick ass socks for the Summer of Socks swap.  It’s really amazing how one dud can really make you unsure.  Enough of that!  There must have been a reason I couldn’t help myself from signing up and that’s because Mitt Kit Swap is going to rock!  Here are all of the secrets of Jodie’s mitten knittin’.

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