the-fibre-stuff

[the-fibre-stuff]

I finished the knitted present for November so far in advance! I'm so proud of meeeeeee!

[the-fibre-stuff]

Behold my first cast on:

Isn't it glorious?

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Let's play a game! It's a guessing game! It's called "how many rows back did I drop a stitch and not notice". I'll give you a hint: it's too many to justify laddering it up.

[the-fibre-stuff]

Hypothetical question for you all:

Our finances could use a bit of a boost and I have a very specific set of skills and local access to the fibre supplier The Fiber Imp.

They are currently on holiday until August 5th and if there is enough interest I could take commissions for handspun made from their collection when they return.

How I imagine this working:

You select the wool you want spun from their shop and you hold your commission spot with a deposit in the amount of the wool cost in Canadian Dollars.

I would then use that money to buy your wool and I would spin the requested yarn and let you know the yardage and we can settle cost of labour on a case by case basis.

I want this to be affordable for you so really, the cost of labour will be more Tip What You Feel Is Right rather than a hard set number.

I would then slap on the shipping cost and we do payment via etransfer or paypal because I'm so old idk any other trustworthy ways to invoice

Examples of handspun I've made from The Fiber Imp:

[the-fibre-stuff]

2.5) missing a dropped stitch far enough back that picking up the stitches was less work than the actual frogging

Let's play a game! It's a guessing game! It's called "how many rows back did I drop a stitch and not notice". I'll give you a hint: it's too many to justify laddering it up.

[the-fibre-stuff]

Oh, and of course I did a good splice between the end of the ball and the beginning of the cone, so everything will now be knit from the (less portable) cone.

Let's play a game! It's a guessing game! It's called "how many rows back did I drop a stitch and not notice". I'll give you a hint: it's too many to justify laddering it up.

[the-fibre-stuff]

Let's play a game! It's a guessing game! It's called "how many rows back did I drop a stitch and not notice". I'll give you a hint: it's too many to justify laddering it up.

[the-fibre-stuff]

not blocked yet, but, behold my first knit ever!!

[the-fibre-stuff]

If it makes you feel better, the second rule doesn't always prevent that problem! Maybe the light doesn't show the difference. Maybe you can't see the difference because the shadows from how you're working block it.

Rule 1 is really what you have to rely on.

Picked up some cotton at Joann's liquidation sale. Apparently, something made me forget the first rule of knitting. Did I check lots? No. Also, the 2nd rule. Did I look at my project as I knit? No.

Really bad. But I'm gonna finish this and wear it for yard work or traveling and not feel bad about how rough I am on clothes. I need play clothes.

Lesson learned, though. Check dye lots.

[the-fibre-stuff]

wait, wait, I'm starting to suspect my experiences are not universal and I need to know

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oops I volunteered to make two baby blankets, one of which has to be made and shipped in less than 30 days

[the-fibre-stuff]

@milkweedman has made a bunch of them. Based on his experience, "the right tools" might be overrated.

Is there anything special I need to know about spindles before I try making one myself? I’ve enjoyed the Turkish drop spindles, and since I’m almost certain my dad has the right tools and an abundance of scrap wood, I’d like to try to build some spindles in different styles myself.

[the-fibre-stuff]

My ulterior motive in life is to become good friend with old ladies so they give me stuff like quilting fabric and yarn for free because they like that a young person is into their craft

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For years I've been seeing posts about Tour de Fleece and everyone was spinning something wildly different and usually very complicated and ambitious, and I was like "oh no the rules of this event must be arcane for all these different projects to fulfil them, it is clearly a challenge to end all challenges, props to them but I could never." Didn't even bother looking it up, it was so out of reach.

It is only this year that I have discovered the rules are actually "spin most days in July" and... that's pretty much it.

I guess I'll get the spindle out after all.

[the-fibre-stuff]

Watching my mom knit a shawl for the local nursing home ...

I'm helping out, mainly by keeping hold of the ball of yarn so that the dog can't help out by keeping hold of the ball of yarn.

Mom: "I don't know why people think this is so complicated."

Me: "It's black magic"

Mom: " It's just either one of two things" she does something complicated with the needles "this is a knit" she does something complicated with the needles, that she swears is different from the first thing "and that's a purl."

Me: "You're chanting" (calling out the number of knits left to herself) "waving your hands around, and using up a ball of yarn. That's a verbal component, a somatic component, and a material component. Under D&D rules, that's magic."

Mom: "It's not that complicated."

Me: "Five hundred years ago, some man would accuse you of turning him into a newt and you'd be tossed in the local river."

Mom: "Well at least it's not crochet."

[the-fibre-stuff]

Happy July 1.

or as my temperature blanket calls it, September 15, 2024