Twistedspinster

Assessments; or, What I did this summer...

Back on July 2, I made myself a "to do" list, and now, on Labor Day, it's time to weigh the dreams against the reality. Wait, we already know that answer.

Ok, just for grins and giggles, here's the assessment.

• Spin up the cotton from last year's harvest, and design, weave and submit for that contest in Colorado. I got two spindles spun on the charkha. But the set-up's still right in front of the recliner, on a TV table - so there's hope, right?
• Finish the rocket gansey. OK- I still have about an inch of ribbing to go on the neck, and it's done. It's 106F outside, fer cryin' out loud!!
• knit 93 million pairs of socks so I win the Summer o' Socks. I'm only 92,999,999 short of that goal. (snork!) I knew after the first week there was no way I was going to win, but what the heck, it was fun!
• Finish the cashmere sweater for the Roketman. See previous reference to temperature. I only did another 4-5 inches.
• Spin up the 10 pounds of recycled denim. Nada. Zilch.
• Spin up the Prudence fleece from Whitefish Bay Farm. I got it washed and carded up-- I need to figure out the project before I know what weight to spin.
• Get about 5 fleeces from Robin Snyder in North San Diego County, and dye, spin and sell the skeins. Cecilia and I got 3 fleeces, I've processed about half of two of them. Oh, plus I got the Montadale fleece from the guild raffle. See picture "Mountain O' Wool" below.
• Re-start the seedlings for the dye plants that died. Another zilch. Once the weather breaks, we need to re-do some of the drip lines.
• Write the article on Quipus. This is written, but I need to spin up some samples in order not to step on copyrighted pictures.

Other stuff I DID do this summer:

• I got an Alden Amos Wheel! whee... A lady in Claremont wanted to give it a good home, and I fit the bill. (can I just let my id tell my super-ego that my kharma must not be too bad??)
• I did a Liles fermentation vat. Ok, so it's not the best color (see below) but I have bragging rights, right?
• I did the class on the weaving and dyeing of Chiapas, for good friends from guild who didn't mind that it was a bit short on weaving.
• Got the video of Dave dizzing roving up on YouTube.
• OK, not exactly fiber-related, but the boat trip was Awesome! I got to see Earthues, and Maiwa...

All in all, the best reason I can give for keeping this journal is to remind me that I don't do so bad, after all.

Here's the Rocket Gansey. Stitch definition is pretty good, but I didn't expect the yarn to fuzz like this.

This is the current obsession. I have to say this - the Garter Stitch Raglan is one of those patterns perfectly suited to the yarn, and vice versa. Hemp does not act like cotton!! The difference is that cotton will sag, and I don't see that happening with hemp. This is the second time knitting this sweater, because I had 4 skeins left over from the kit. I ordered four more skeins, and may need one more.

Here's the Mountain O' Wool... not much spinning getting done, is there?

This is the Liles fermentation indigo vat... it really was stinky. Can you see the fruit still floating around in there? That's my clue that the fermentation has stopped- it's not eating the fruit any more. Too bad- it's a great way to use all that yucky stuff the birds ruin and drop to the ground.

These are the samples. The top sample is Romney (5-6 days), the bottom is the Montadale (~3 weeks).I'm rather disappointed in the color... reading through Liles again, he says to add a teaspoon of urea if the fermentation stops. I'm thinking -- maybe.

posted by Ruth S. @ 1:25 PM