A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

The last few weeks have been crazy, Spinzilla, mud and just plain busy last week so I didn't get to posting.  Hoping to get some normal back for a few weeks before the holidays come.  I thought I'd put together a post that has a little from each thing I've been working on and of course how Spinzilla went.
I spun a total of 4,825 yards.
I ran out of bobbins and spun almost all the fiber in the bin.  I of course didn't finished my lace weight yarns.

I learned, truly learned the backwards long draw and can't wait to apply it to Orenburg spinning.
I have done very little spinning since Spinzilla, there just hasn't been time and I still am out of bobbins.

Let's start with crochet.
I finished the Unicorn poncho, thus finishing my first Christmas gift for the year.  My youngest son was a good sport to wear it as long as I didn't get his face.

I also made and sewed the pockets onto my Coatigan of many colors.  I will put the pattern notes in the project page on Ravlery.
I made each pocket and left a really long tail to sew them onto the jacket.  I pinned them to the jacket using double pointed knitting needles.

I pinned them 9 clusters from the edge and 15 rows up from the bottom.

I then whipped stitched them into place leaving the top open.  I have been pleased with the final results.  At first I was afraid they were too low, but after a couple of weeks of wearing they are perfect.  They are tight enough to hold keys and hair ties, but not change or meds.  They are warm though.  I have one more thing I want to do to make this jacket complete, add a tassel to the hood.  I am waiting for a pattern from Hunter Hammersen that has how to make a tassel in it, then I will make mine and have a finished picture.

For Christmas I am working on crocheted Victorian ornaments and the band from the dive bar in Star Wars.  I will also be redoing a design from 13 years ago to make a dolly for a gift.

I am about to finish a hooded shark blanket that is for the brother of the one who gets the unicorn.

On the knitting front, I have been working diligently on my West Knits Marled Mania for Make It With Wool 2018.  It should be done in time.  I have had to do one sleeve 3 times and the other twice, but it will be worth it.
I am still moving slowly on the designing and knitting of my Mom's birthday present.  I will be able to spend more time there once my sweater is finished.
I started a pair of gloves for my best friend for his birthday in December.
I also started a pair of leg warmers to wear with my Make It With Wool sweater.  Which by the way is November 3rd.  Must knit faster or more or both.
I'm working on the last what I call Port sock for a pattern for a sock design worked both from the toe up and from the cuff down, hoping that will one day be a class I teach.

I am planning a weaving project.  It is going to be cotton dish towels.  I'm going to warp all 4 of them on at once and use different weft patterns.  These are just for fun, not gifts or anything.  I AM going to follow all the directions this time so I get a better product.  The waxed paper and yarn are both sitting with my ridged heddle and just waiting.

I think that sums it up.  Hoping to get some dying in soon, when I do I'll share that here, maybe next time.
I will not post next week as it will be just all this same stuff.  I will post the following week with results from Make It With Wool 2018 and finished objects.

Happy Halloween!
Happy stitching!

Spinzilla 2018

Greetings everyone.  I am writing this just 10 hours before the official start of Spinzilla 2018.  I am going to share with you my plans for this crazy week of spinning and share with you my spinning kit that I have created and the story as to why.
This is my fifth year doing Spinzilla.  I have been on team Spin Off each year and am again this year.  We are spread, usually not just over the US, but through out, the world as well.  As such we don't physically get together and spin as many teams do; we are very active in our Ravelry thread though.  Oh, if you don't know what Spinzilla, click here to find out.  To see my previous years of Spinzilla visit my Ravelry pages, handspun section.  The projects that are Spinzilla are labeled as such and with the year.  The only year that is missing is 2014, my first year.  I spun some alpaca that I had processed and dyed.  It was then knit into a BadCat designed shawl for a friend who had cancer.  Project The Sunflower Blanket was published in Andrea's book "New Vintage Lace".
This year's plan is to spin from a different indie dyer each day.  I have Leading Men Fibers Arts, Hummingbird Moon, which is local to me, Greenwood Fiber Arts, Redfish dye works, Deep Dyed yarns and Apothefaery.  I have spun fiber from about half of these dyers, the other half are new to me and I can't wait to see what happens.

Starting on the left I will give you the low down on each fiber and how I plan to spin it.  Redfish, 4oz of 50/50 Merino/silk dyed in a nice rust.  I plan for it to become a 2 ply lace weight plied tighter than the blue I recently finished.  Deep Dyed, 4oz Merino, silk, bamboo in gray, teal and purple.  I'm not completely sure how I am going to do this yet.  I am going to try for a 2 ply lace and I may later ply it with the gray alpaca from Spinzilla 2017.  Leading Men Fiber Arts, 4oz of 100% Falkland in the "let's Hear it for the Girllls!" colorway.  This has been divided lengthwise into 2 balls.  Each ball will be spun onto a bobbin and then chain plied.  I will then have 2 skeins, one for each sock.  Greenwood, 4oz of 100% BFL in the metero color way.  This is part of an ongoing project that I have had for a while.  It is to be part of a 2 ply heavier lace.  The second ply is 50/50 yak/silk.  Hummingbird Moon, 4oz of 100% SW targhee in Unicorn Tears that will be worked as socks same as the Leading Men and Apothefaery, 4oz 100% baby doll south down, with no color name.  The baby doll I have never worked with at all and not sure what it will want to be.  I'll start on the regular whorl and go up or down from there.
BUt that's only 6 you say...  That's because the 7th is my sheep Chloe.  I have finally processed her lamb fleece far enough to start spinning.  I have card 6oz, which i think is more than I should do in a day.  I plan to spin it on the regular whorl and then chain ply it.  The final project is a Surprise Jacket from Elizabeth Zimmerman for me.  Below is a carded batt of her fleece.  The picture below that is her and the lamb that was her nephew born this last winter, Oliver.

The tools.  I will be using 2 suspended spindle and 2 Saxony wheels.  First the spindles.

 

The spindle on the left, will be what I use to spin the BFL on.  It is a 19g lace spindle made by my husband.  The whorl is made from the blue pine, the top is walnut and the bobbin is a store bought dowel that he cuts down.  I can take the full bobbin off and put an empty one in and keep going.  The spindle on the right is a tiny Turkish spindle.  It has only ever had this on project on it, since April 2015.  I have only 8 more turtles to make.  This is fiber from Redfish and is the same blend as above, just in a different color.  The turkey weighs only 9g.  The spindle is mode of walnut and the arms are acrylic.

My wheels.  The one in the front is a 1978 Ashford Traditional given to me almost 10 years ago.  It is equipped with thw jumbo flyer, that my husband modified to also have the regular flyer on it.  I will be spinning the fibers from Leading Men, Hummingbird Moon, Apothefaery and Chloe's fleece on it.  The wheel in the back is a replica of the Ashford Traditional.  My husband made it for Christmas 3 years ago.  It is equipped with the lace flyer and I will be spinning Redfish and Deep Dyed on her.  It runs as well as the 1978.

Here are my bobbins.

The kate on the left is again the blue pine, made by my husband.  The jumbo bobbins are also made by him with whatever wood is available.  The dark colored lace bobbin in the center he made as well.  The dark kate on the right and those bobbins came with my 1978 wheel.  As you can see on the bobbin that is standing in the center I have written the weight of each bobbin on the end.  That way I can just subtract that from the weight of a bobbin with fiber and know the weight of the yarn and do the math for yardage from there.  What is not shown in this photo is the mug hooks on the other side of the large kate.  They hold the bobbins from the lace spindle above so that I can plying balls.

Here is a picture of fiber ready to spin.

The tiny bags are the Greenwood fiber.  Each bag is half an ounce, that is what I am comfortable putting on that 19g spindle.  The 2 bags in the back are Hummingbird Moon and Leading Men with the 2 balls for socks.  The other bag is Chloe batts.  The 4 tiny balls are all the green fiber I have left from my first 4oz of Redfish fiber.

I saved this for last as it is going to be a lot of explaining for only 2 pictures.

The top picture above is what it looks like with all the pieces from the bottom picture tucked inside and zipped.  This is my spinning kit.  I have put it together from recent experience and wanted it as small as possible.  I have recently been without the fiber I was spinning on info, whorl size and such.  I got stuck at a demo without a brake band.  The bit of wood and blue thread on the right center is what my 15 year old son came up with and it worked!  I keep that just in case it happens again and because it is cool.  Some things are obvious, the orifice hook, scissors, wax, tape measure...  I keep the screw driver because it is just for my wheel, has both heads and I needed it recently to slide the maiden over to line up the drive band properly.  I have 2 kinds of brake bands and drive bands.  I have oil of course.  It is in a baggy in case it spills.  An emery board to make parts fit better or stop grabbing fiber.  Stickies, note cards and a pen to take notes on the whorl size, dates and such for the fiber I'm spinning.  The note card with writing is my ratio card so I know which one I'm on.  The foam balls are winding yarn onto if needed.  Since I make a lot of lace yarn it is so much easier to start here than to make a ball by first winding around my fingers.  The purple ball of yarn is leader, figure 8 ties, whatever I need at the moment.  This kit will be in my wheel bag at all times and I shouldn't have to improvise too much in the future.

The story I'm going to tell next was the final straw to making the kit.  I was looking for bobbins for Spinzilla and found this.

 

Some Merino I started spinning at least 2 years ago.  See how little is left?  Why didn't I finish?  I have no idea.  I also don't know which whorl I was on either because there was no info with it.  The only reason I knew which wheel to put it on is because it was on a lace bobbin.  Take notes and leave them with the fiber!

While Spinzilla is a week of spinning, there will be at least a couple of times this week where I can't spin but I can knit if it's idiot work.  Socks to the rescue.  Here is my idiot sock for Spinzilla week knitting.

The yarn is from Hedgehog Fibers in the Poison colorway with maybe some black for heels and toes.  The pattern is called V Junkie.  The Reese's Pieces are for edible round counters.  I plan to make simple directions and transfer them to a note card.

Friday night I will be spinning at the home coming game for Byers High school.  I can't wait.  It is hero and villain day for the students, but I'm going to wear my superman shirt and a red cape.  I'll share pictures here and on instagram.  @Azariahs1982

until next week, happy fibering!