Spring Election Day 2020

Today is Municipal Election Day roundabout Exit 151. It was supposed to be the first use of the fancy new optical voting machines the county bought. Instead, because of the coronavirus epidemic, it's the first use of 100% vote by mail. No polling places are open today and no provisional ballots are available. Knowing that caused a minor panic last week – I did not receive my ballot, pestered the county clerk all week, and finally received a duplicate ballot, which I returned yesterday. There's a way to track one's ballot, but the registration process isn't working for me. Argh.



Also because of the pandemic, the mighty MDS&W morphed into an online-only festival. I bought the T-shirt and some fairings, as one does the first full weekend in May, and felt a bit mournful about all that was missing from the experience. Then came the wait for delivery. The first fairing to arrive is some lovely Gnomespun Domestic Romney, colorway Tiger's in the Night.



Well. That does make things better.

In an ordinary year, I'd plan to spin it up during the Tour de Fleece or the Ravellenics. This year, with so many sporting events in abeyance, it feels like... I was about to say it feels like a contingency plan or two is needed, but no. With so many plans crumbling, perhaps rather than another plan, the good intention simply to spin is enough.

July Catch Up

After much to-ing and fro-ing and repeated trips up laundry mountain and email mountain, I've finally made some progress, begun to catch up, and am even getting my summer projects in order. I started my TdF project, spinning lovely Cobblestone Roving in colorway Sandtown-Winchester. I don't have a specific goal beyond simply enjoying spinning along. Let me just say this stuff is easy to enjoy – a good choice for the over-busy. I recommend it highly.



Then there's my woefully neglected Camp Loopy projects. This year Camp has gone chthonic – it's all about things forgotten or undiscovered in the earth, dinosaurs and caverns and the like, researching which led me to the delightful but apparently defunct blog Dinosaurs! WTF?, source of all dino links in this post. Ah, the irony, and its converse, the wrinkly.

Anyway. The yarn for the June project was ordered with such high hopes in May. It's Cascade Ultra Pima, colorway 3777 African Violet, and came with an assignment to the extremely chatty Camp Stegosaurus and a Velociraptor totem. I cast on a CeCe by Bonne Marie Burns, DNF on time. I'll get back to it... eventually.



The yarn for the July project was ordered in June. It's Rohrspatz & Wollmeise Lacegarn, colorway Kornblume, and came with an assignment to Carlsbad Caverns Campers and the Nearly Headless Nick of dinosaurs, Parasaurolophus [almost crested lizard], as a totem. My plan was to knit Spelunking Cardigan by Anna Dalvi, but I have yet to cast on. I may never do so. I blame the busyness.



And the yarn for the August project just arrived. It's Hedgehog Fibres Merino Lace, colorway Harajuku, and came with an assignment to Camp Loopasaurus and a Styracosaurus totem and an Ankylosaurus sticker (<-- do click the link).

The yarn is really, really bright. I swatched a bit and discovered when knit single it's too spindly for what I have in mind and when knit double it's too robust. Before I saw it IRL I had thought about swapping it for my July project... but now? Mark that with a resounding, Er....

As long as I'm contemplating antiquities, let me offer a series of three serious and one daft links on Hobby Lobby Robby Hamurabi. I'm not in the market for antiquities and hadn't really thought about this pro tip – when no provenance is given for an item, it almost certainly is stolen – but I'll pay closer attention in museums going forward. Not to mention I've never shopped at Hobby Lobby, and have no intention to start.

Baltimore Convention Consolations

All the to-ing and fro-ing has wreaked havoc on my knitting, spinning, canning, blogging, etc but one consolation is when in Baltimore for a convention I was able to visit Neighborhood Fiber Co. It's in a converted firehouse – there are still lunettes in the ceiling where the poles for the firefighters to slide down used to be. They really, truly used to do that.



For conventioneers, the shop is easy to get to (from the Baltimore Convention Center it's a short ride on the light rail) and well-worth a visit. I splurged on a braid of absolutely lovely Cobblestone Roving (75/25 BFL/Silk) in colorway Sandtown-Winchester for my Tour de Fleece project and some other goodies. I dunno when I'll have time to start it – the Grand Départ was July 1 – but that's another matter. At least I'm ready to start.



There was a lot of sitting in large groups during this convention, ideal for working discreetly on a small project like a Lionberry crescent shawlette. Mine is knit in Neighborhood Fiber Co. Capitol Luxury Lace (80/10/10 MCN), colorway Del Rey.



When I bought the Sugar 'n Cream at the big box store I had the foresight to also buy a circular needle. While I've had decent experiences with some big box store knitting needle brands, such as Susan Bates, Clover, or Boye, alas, this no-name one turned out to be very poorly made. The suffering inflicted by the poor quality needle almost canceled out the pleasure of the lovely yarn. Note to self: don't do that again.

Some of my fellow conventioneers had good views from their hotel rooms into Camden Yards, which indeed is a most beautiful baseball stadium. I just had a view of the convention center complex. Interestingly, one of the buildings has a green roof. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the plants are very closely spaced and some appear to be three or four feet (0.9-1.2 m) tall. I don't know if this green roof has much impact on pollution or the urban heat island effect, but it was more pleasant to look at than an ordinary roof.



During free time while some people took in a baseball game and others went to the Inner Harbor, I visited Lexington Market to try crab cakes and soft-shell crab at Faidley's, which were pricey and very good. Many crab cakes are too highly seasoned to my taste, but these were just right. As for the soft-shell, I was told that the proper way to eat a soft-shell crab is fried, in a sandwich with the legs dangling out. I was veddy proper. (Faidley's also has all kinds of other seafood.)



Thanks to the conference I spent the Fourth of July traveling, then at home blissfully making up my sleep deficit. Sigh. Every year I vow: Never travel on a holiday. Then I end up doing it anyway. Ah well, at least this time there were consolations.

July Wrap Up

July was alternately so miserably hot and so torrentially rainy and there was so much negative stuff going on off the blog that the month seemed interminably longer than usual. And then it was over without any blogging. Well, let me catch up with an interminably long wrap up post.

At first I balked at writing this and wanted to insert various qualifiers, but on reflection this year's Tour de Fleece was a success, unqualified. I accomplished my goal of finishing a half-braid of fiber using a new-to-me technique, sampled a luscious new-to-me fiber, and spun another sample using another new-to-me technique. All cause for happiness and satisfaction, but it's only in retrospect that this has sunk in.

The half-braid of Gale's Art Polwarth, colorway Sweetness and Light, turned into 297 yds (271 m) of fractal-spun 2-ply with 63 yd (57 m) of plied-against-itself 2-ply left over. I was surprised by the way the colors of the fractal-spun aligned – there were far more sections of solid color and far fewer sections of barberpole than generally occur in random spinning. I'm curious to see how the yarn will knit up.



The luxurious Victory Farm Paco-Vicuña also was a surprise. I had expected the downy-feeling fiber would be difficult to spin, so spun it July 9, one of the challenge days. It turned out the lovely fiber spun so easily and beautifully the only challenge was stopping with a 12-yd (11-m) sample skein. The results remind me of baby camel – I'm going to have to rummage through my stash to find that sample skein and compare the two.



While I'm glad I tried ply on the fly and I'm pleased with the end product, I did find the three steps forward, two steps back process more time-consuming than I like. There's 52 yds (47 m) of ply on the fly and 72 yds (65 m) of ordinary 2-ply spun from Zarzuela's Fibers SW Merino, colorway Santa's Coming! pictured below. Unsurprisingly, the ply on the fly has long segments of pure color while the ordinary 2-ply has delightful barberpole effects. I do rather like the barberpole effects. Somewhat surprisingly, the POTF felt like a crepe yarn while it was getting its finishing bath, a difference I don't notice when it's dry.



At some point in the spinning action, the hook on my (apparently camera-shy) birdseye maple Bosworth got bent, which of course made it spin eccentrically. I was afraid I might have to send it back to Journeywheel for repairs, but was able to straighten it out with (padded) heavy pliers. Whew! I love my Bossies – the longer I spin, the more I prefer them. Indeed, while mousing around the Journeywheel website, I noticed this beauty, a 30 g pau amarillo midi...



... and clicked. A new bright yellow spindle, reminiscent of the Maillot Jaune, seemed a fitting conclusion to my TdF.

Having watched the Republican National Convention, of course I watched the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Inspired by the most moving speech of the convention, I made myself a pocket U.S. Constitution. As my puny stapler can't possibly secure so many sheets of paper (mighty in thickness however small in size), I sewed the pages together.



I also blocked and seamed my July Camp Loopy project, Simple Straight Skirt by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas, knit in Cascade 220 colorway 4002 Jet. I dislike finishing, but also hate to see anything less than the full effect. In this case, mattress stitch seams.



Blocking, seaming, and the addition of waistband elastic transformed the skirt from a vaguely skirt-shaped lumpy mass into an honest-to-goodness skirt that fits perfectly. What an excellent pattern – well-written and perfect results. I don't know why I've had such a mental block about knitting skirts, but now I want to Knit All the Skirts! It's too hot right now to comfortably model a wool skirt, I'll have to remember to do that when it cools down.



Last but not least, another singleton sock came down from the Clothesline of Shame, Clouds by Rebecca A., worked in Regia Design Line by Kaffe Fasset, colorway 4261 Landscape Caribbean. A fun pattern and a fun yarn, it's just everything that intervened that made it take so long to finish the pair. One sock uses wrap and turn short rows, the other uses Japanese short rows.



Now it's on to the Ravellenic Games 2016. I needed some jollying along – the antipathy I've harbored against the Sports Event That Shall Not Be Named has only increased in two years, and the multiple hazards of the host country and my own general state of blah were formidable obstacles. Sometime this week that turned around (hence the need to wrap up July). I've joined Team Loopy 2016 and Team BBMF 2016 (rated M), and am ready for the Mass Cast on tomorrow!

Another Week That Was

Another week, another tragedy. Sigh. To cheer myself up from the horror, I retreated to the pleasant fantasy that is the Tour de Fleece and attempted ply-on-the-fly...



... using a bit of leftover Zarzuela's Fibers SW Merino, colorway Santa's Coming!



It took me a while to get used to the three steps forward, two steps back process. So far I like the result well enough, not as sure about the process. I'm going to suspend judgment and spin a bit more.

To pass the time while watching the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, I started my July Camp Loopy project, Simple Straight Skirt by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas. Soon I had half a skirt. Much to my surprise, it resembled a reasonable facsimile of a skirt. I'm not sure why I should be surprised, but I am.



Unhappily, the bad news just kept on coming. During the RNC I received word that a beloved friend and mentor passed away suddenly. Which officially makes this a Rough Patch. Sigh.

The Week That Was

It's been a sad, sad, sad week of gun violence across the U.S. Each incident has been more dreadful than the last, culminating in the horror of a bomb robot used to kill a mass shooter who targeted police.

In difficult times, I knit. For Summer of Socks 2016 I finished By the Seine River by Dona Knits, worked in Regia Design Line Jazz Color by Erika Knight, colorway 6454 Kind of Blue. It was an easy, fun knit that really should have been finished much sooner.



And I spin. Project 1 for the Tour de Fleece 2016 is to finish a half-braid of Gale's Art Polwarth, colorway Sweetness & Light. At the beginning of the week it looked like this.



At the end of the week it looked like this. I randomly spun the first half of the braid, but fractal-spun the second half. The broad strip is on the left spindle, the thin strips are on the right spindle. I'm going to let the singles rest before plying them.



Today is one of the tough mountain stages for the TdF. Chilly llamas on the road are a possible additional hazard. I think I must spin up some of my paco-vicuña in their honor.

Lamentation Rules

Lamentation rules at casa Jersey Knitter. As of Bastille Day last Wednesday this was the sum total of my TdF spinning. The usual causes apply: too much traveling, not enough down time – a situation unlikely to be remedied for a while yet. Earlier this year I had my hopes up, but no. If anything, prospects are rather sadder than happier. ::Le sigh.::



Consistent with my indecision (huh?) about what to spin, I kept changing my mind about how to spin the singles, even over this pitiably short length. Laceweight? Fingering?? Sportweight for weaving??? When I saw the Knitty surprise I briefly thought it should be fine laceweight for a fiery version of Ridge and Furrow shawl by Jenn Monahan, which would be fabulous. And it would be fun to spindle-spin 850 yards (777 m) of cobweb singles, oui? But, during times of lamentation, iron discipline applies – that's the rules. So, Imma gonna try to stay the course with sportweight for weaving.

Meanwhile, I finally finished my carbon footprint Juta's Stockings by Nancy Bush... then was utterly unable to take a decent pic of the FO, even with the aid of bright July light. This rather indistinct image is my best effort so far out of many. The socks are slightly different sizes because my gauge changes when I'm stressed. I've decided not to stress about it. The modeled shot will have to wait until cooler weather.



Realization dawned that I never documented the FO for The Stroop Stroop Socks by Ros Clarke, a Sock Madness 9 pattern knit and completed for April Sockdown. I love the clever motifs – the sock is sprinkled with round ribbed and barred stroopwafels of varying sizes. Alas, my poor digicam is flummoxed by the tigerish yarn and cannot display the gentle beauty of the stitch pattern effectively.



This hot day that's about all I can manage. More later, in the meantime, Allons-y!

Decisions

Amid the patriotic festivities yesterday I found myself distracted by a head-spinning existential Tour de Fleece quandry. What to spin?

Back in May I thought I'd try ply on the fly using an MDS&W 2015 fairing, a braid of Into the Whirled Falkland with the suggestive colorway name Rhinebeck. It's somewhat similar to ITW colorway Royal Platypus (purchased at Rhinebeck 2009, spun for TdF 2010, and knit up for Sock Madness 2011). I thought it would be interesting to compare the finished yarns. It's a worthy goal but somehow the enterprise no longer appeals.



Then I thought about various braids that for various good reasons are only part-finished. There's ::cough:: a fair number. Finishing them (or at least one) this summer would be a good thing. Yet what beckoned was these braids of Cloverleaf Farms Merino, colorway Chili Peppers.



These fiery beauties were a 2014 MDS&W fairing. I dimly recollect I was going to spin them for competition, then spun and won with Gale's Art undyed BFL instead. This time I plan to spin to weave, then to sew a minimally tailored SAORI-style vest... not without some trepidation. A lot of handspun, handwoven textiles look like they have the weight and drape of cowhide, and I'm hoping for something rather lighter and more supple. So, goal the first will be to finish the spinning during TdF; goal the next will be to evaluate the finished woven fabric. Allons-y!

Comforting

As crazed as my year has been, there's a wonderfully comforting continuity in the process of going from fiber (beauteous Gale's Art undyed Blue Face Leicester)...



... to yarn (240 yds of strangely kinky 2-ply S-spun, Z-plied)...



... to swatch (Tvåändsstickning motifs from Rossling by Leslie Comstock)...



... to entry for the the Garden State Sheep & Fiber Festival skein competition (Challenge Class 14: Textile Yarn Swatch).



I can hardly believe it's been eight years since I last competed. And I'm astonished and elated to have come home this year with First in Class and Best of Show ribbons.



The words of wisdom from EZ have never seemed truer to me: "Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises."

Belated TdF Wrap

Did I say things had calmed down a bit roundabout Exit 151? I eat my words. Not unlike this year's Tour de France, my Tour de Fleece was full of unexpected developments. While that meant a Did Not Finish for some, at least I finished a few things... perhaps less than I'd hoped, but in retrospect a decent amount for a slow spindle spinner and distracted sock knitter.

First up, there's one skein of S-spun, Z-plied ecru Gale's Art BFL, intended for Tvåändsstickning. I'd hoped to have more, but oh well, I put what I had in the pot.



After its bath and thwacking, the skein was 240 yds (219 m) of kinks. I've never had that happen before. Someone on Team Madness suggested I may have been inconsistent in the direction of spinning. I've looked at the skein closely and don't think that's the case. Could it be stress-related? Dunno. I still think the yarn is delightful.



I had a skein of Gale's Art Polwarth sitting around from last spring, so I gave it a bath as well. I suppose it's indicative of the continuing chaos hic et ubique that there simply hasn't been time to finish something so lovely.



The Polwarth was 183 yds (167 m) after bath and thwacking. It's a little kinky in spots too, although not nearly as much as my more recent spinning. Huh.



During the TdF I finally finished a pair of socks from last year's Sock Madness, Bricks and Tiles. Having been a Singleton Sock of Shame, the pair deserves a post of their own, I think. Although having already put off the post once before, I also think they deserve a FO photo here.



After so much messiness, yesterday I received a surprise in the mail. Ooh!



It turned out to be a Team Madness prize from Leslie Comstock, a Mali bead spindle with a bit of Sally Fox' brown cotton sliver.


Thank you, Leslie! I can't wait to give it a spin. Erm, maybe this weekend, when I have more time. Sigh.

Second Rest Day

Today is a rest day in Carcassonne for the Tour de France and so too for the Tour de Fleece, a chance to catch up. Or perhaps an excuse to play – what else? – Carcassonne. Someday I'd love to see the historic Cité, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.



My TdF is coming along nicely. Half the ecru BFL braid is spun, plied, and ready to finish...



... and a skein of Gale's Art Polwarth that was spun and plied last spring but somehow never finished is finished. I'm very pleased with my MDS&W '13 fairing. That's only half the braid – I really should spin up the rest. Maybe after TdF.



There's FO socks to show off, too. Coming soon!

Rotational Activity

Happy Fourth of July to USAans everywhere! Alas, along the U.S. Eastern seaboard first-of-the-season Cat 2 Hurricane Arthur is upsetting holiday weekend plans. Ah well, at least the storm track map is red, white, and blue.

Image credit: National Hurricane Center.

Rant: I'm keeping a weather eye out, although I've been in more of a spin over the Supreme Court's "limited ruling" regarding access to contraception in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby on Monday and subsequent orders expanding on the ruling on Tuesday and Thursday. There's so much to dislike – the idea that corporations have civil rights, the admission the ruling is novel and without precedent, the disingenuous claim it's limited, that bosses get to control how employees use their compensation, the junk science, the inconsistent theology, the piercing of the corporate veil, the callous let them eat cake attitude. Gah. Some would boycott the companies that have filed suit – Hobby Lobby and Eden Foods among them. That's well and good, but the take-away for me is elections matter. End of rant.

I was looking forward to a more pleasant form of spinning, a weekend bike ride or three as my Kickstarter reward, a Po Campo Bike Share Bag, arrived. I'm very pleased with its thoughtful design, particularly its zip top and pockets and bungee cords. The bag arrived flat, but for the photo I stuffed it with fiber, of course...



... including the fiber I plan to spin for the Tour de Fleece, which starts tomorrow. The fiber is Gale's Art undyed ecru BFL, the spindle is my trusty 29 g birdseye maple Bosworth.



This year I signed onto Team Madness Forever 2014, which seems a good fit. I'm aiming to spin yarn suitable for twined knitting, or Tvåändsstickning, which is traditionally 2-ply, spun S and plied Z from Swedish landrace sheep. I can manage the spinning technique, but the closest thing to Swedish landrace fiber that I could obtain is Finn, which I sampled and didn't entirely like, so BFL will have to do.



I think it does pretty well. I'm ready for le Grand Depart.