i made wool

ok maybe i didn't make it but i did spin it!

while in Inuvik i was able to take a spinning class ... well almost the class was full but they let me watch and listen. I learnt alot! and it gave me confidence to try drop spindling. that is the photo above: my drop spindle. it is a lovely little thing cherry wood and very light so i can spin lace weights. can should be in quotes ... so i could spin lace, once i get better - right now it is mainly fingering (sock) weight .. but there are fair chunks of thick and thin

here is my fibre .... Spunky Eclectic Spunky Club Roving: Romney wool, Pansy colourway

our instructor gave lots of tips - ie good begining fibres - romney, corridale are two goods ones as they have long grabby hairs/fibres. also variegated colours help too so you can see the twist.

and here is my first 4oz or 100 grams of hand spun wool!!!

all i do is edge

lacy knit-on edging: a fancy way to bind off

so i've had a few questions on how my current sweater is constructed. it is basically a giant circle. i cast on 7 stitches (centre back) and every other round i increased by 7 stitches.

step 1: knit the circle
step 2: knit the edging
step 3: sleeves

so right now i am on step 2 - the edging is basically a fancy bind-off, or in other words to cast off one stitch i have to knit 40 to 48 stitches. around the edge is about 550 stitches to cast off .... i don't want to do the math so lets just say it is a lot of knitting. Unfortunately it is kind of boring knitting which is part of the reason i'm adding beads to make it more interesting !

see what i mean how the colour shifts? here the beads appear copper ....
a post or two below and they look amethyst

just to clarify i haven't pre-strung the beads rather i add them to stitch with a crochet hook - whoever figured this out was brilliant. it works really well! you just need to find a tiny hook!

1985

mom and dad brought boxes of everything i've left behind at home ... most of it i haven't seen for years.
this morning i found my school journal from 1985:

My DaD is wroking on church. he allmot finish it. I like helping

this one is kind of hard to read ... but it is me helping my dad as he is working on the church (they were building an upper floor extension) ... how sweet hey .... now check this one out:

85/10/15. When I was walking to class Willa was makeing noses. I spaked willa said OWh!

yes .. that is me hitting my younger sister... ha! how awesome is that ... she was banging cups (?) so i decided to spank her and then wrote about it?! what the hell ... but i do love the expressions

on to the edging

well i've done the body of the cardigan now onto the edging. to help the monotony of it (twenty stitch saw tooth lace edge) i've decided to add beads - i picked out gold seed beads in Inuvik but i haven't been able to find a crochet hook small enough to add them to the yarn. so yesterday i went to our great local dollar store and found these larger beads and a size 14 crochet hook (0.60 mm smallest i've been able to find in whitehorse). The beads are a clear amethyst purple with a copper foil lining - the copper glints in the light and also makes the beads appear brown in some light. i really like how they shift colour - sometimes a pale grey-purple, bright copper, or dark warm purple/brown.

i have to admit i'm a little worried that they will add too much weight to this light floaty cardigan (wool will weigh about 100grams) and/or distract from the lace - however they are really pretty and it is fun to knit with them!

ps want to know how to knit with beads? knitty has a great article about beading it is much easier than it looks - try it out!